INSIDE AI #15: OpenAI & Meta Talent Battle | OpenAI & Microsoft AGI Clause | Coming Soon: The AI Insider's OpSec & Privacy Toolkit and Valis Veil
Edition 15
In This Edition:
Key takeaways:
News:
Inside Meta and OpenAI: Top AI Talent Rivalry
OpenAI’s Restructuring: The AGI Clause That Fractured a Partnership
Announcements:
We are launching two tech initiatives soon:
The AI Insider’s OpSec & Privacy Toolkit
Valis Veil
Stay tuned!
We are featured in Miles Brundage’s Substack on Frontier AI Governance
Insider Currents
Carefully curated summaries and links to the latest news, spotlighting the voices and concerns emerging from within frontier AI companies.
We’re testing a different structure - featuring fewer in-depth insider current articles and a link collection. Let us know what you think.
Inside Meta and OpenAI: Top AI Talent Rivalry
In our last edition, we spotlighted Sam Altman’s bold claim: “None of OpenAI’s top talent accepted Meta’s offers (yet).”
That statement no longer holds true.
Meta’s Successful Recruits
Among the notable hires is Lucas Beyer, a respected figure in computer vision research at OpenAI. According to TechCrunch, Beyer’s skill set aligns closely with Meta’s growing strategic direction on “entertainment AI” rather than “productivity AI,” said Meta CPO, Chris Cox, during a leaked internal meeting reported to the Verge.
Joining Beyer is Trapit Bansal, known for his pioneering work in AI reasoning models who had been a researcher at OpenAI since 2022. Four additional senior researchers, Shengjia Zhao, Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, and Hongyu Re, have also made the move, according to a source familiar with the matter, The Information wrote.
The Zuckerberg Pitch: High Compensation & Unlimited Compute
Zuckerberg has been meeting with candidates one-on-one, offering them: aggressive compensation and perhaps most critically, unlimited access to compute resources.
This last point has become a particular pressure point for OpenAI. As Wired reported, several researchers within the organization have expressed frustration over Sam Altman’s unfulfilled promises:
“At OpenAI, researchers have complained that Altman has been known to promise access to GPUs, only to feel like there was no follow-through from leadership.”
By contrast, Meta is positioning itself as a haven for researchers constrained by compute bottlenecks elsewhere.
Meta’s compensation offers are not just generous, they’re unprecedented in scale. According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations, as reported by Wired, the company has extended at least 10 exceptionally high-value offers to OpenAI employees, including one pitch for a chief scientist role that was ultimately declined. Other employees indicated that:
“…they were weighing the money against the potential impact they could have at Meta in comparison to OpenAI. Several believed their impact would be greater at OpenAI.”
OpenAI’s Internal Response
In an internal note, Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer, likened the situation to “someone breaking into our home and stealing something.”
He assured employees that he, along with CEO Sam Altman and other company leaders, was working tirelessly to engage with those receiving external offers. He emphasized that they were being more proactive than ever, reassessing compensation, and exploring innovative ways to acknowledge and retain top talent.
However, many employees have been working 80-hour weeks, as reported by Wired. The company plans to shut down for a week to allow staff to rest. There is also growing internal concern that OpenAI has become too reactive by chasing frequent product launches rather than focusing on longer-term scientific goals.
“The company (OpenAI) is getting too caught up in short-term comparison with the competition,”
said one former employee who worked closely with Altman, adding that the CEO had been pushing for “buzzy announcements every few months.”
→ Read: Here’s What Mark Zuckerberg Is Offering Top AI Talent
→ Read: OpenAI Leadership Responds to Meta Offers: ‘Someone Has Broken Into Our Home’
→ Read: Meta Announces New Superintelligence Lab
→ Read: Meta is offering multimillion-dollar pay for AI researchers, but not $100M ‘signing bonuses’
→ Read: Meta Hires Four More OpenAI Researchers
OpenAI’s Restructuring: The AGI Clause That Fractured a Partnership
Back in 2019, when Microsoft and OpenAI were negotiating their partnership agreement, industry insiders dismissed the inclusion of an AGI clause as pure fantasy.
“Everyone laughed at this,” said one person involved in the contract negotiations, according to The Information.
Fast-forward to today, and that same clause has evolved into a major point of contention in this partnership—leading to high-stakes negotiations amid OpenAI’s recent restructuring.
Following our earlier reports on the company’s internal changes, this week’s update focuses on how the AGI clause has reignited friction between OpenAI and Microsoft.
The Restructuring Standoff
The definition of artificial general intelligence remains disputed, complicating efforts to determine when the milestone has been achieved. OpenAI and Microsoft, however, have introduced a financial benchmark that ties the attainment of AGI to OpenAI’s ability to generate $100 billion in profits.
Although OpenAI is currently viewed as far from profitable—according to internal documents reported by The New York Times—the wording of their AGI definition could potentially allow the company to claim success regardless of profitability, wrote Business Insider.
This uncertainty has created tension between the partners. Microsoft reportedly seeks to eliminate this clause as part of approving OpenAI’s corporate restructuring, which is critical for the AI company's plans to secure billions in new funding, sources told The Information.
The Timeline Divide
The disagreement extends to leadership levels. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has expressed skepticism about artificial general intelligence, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has asserted that it is “just around the corner.” This divergence has reportedly caused frustration among OpenAI executives. Earlier this year, Nadella referred to AGI as a “nonsensical benchmark hacking” during a podcast appearance. The Information also reported:
“Microsoft believes OpenAI won’t be able to declare it has developed AGI before 2030, when the companies’ current deal is set to expire, according to a person who spoke to Nadella.”
More Developments Unfold:
→ Read: OpenAI and Microsoft Duel Over AGI in High-Stakes Negotiation
→ Read: OpenAI, Microsoft Rift Hinges on How Smart AI Can Get
→ Read: Inside the High-Stakes Rift Straining The Most Powerful Alliance in Tech
→ Read: Inside the Battle Over Microsoft's Access to OpenAI's Technology
Assorted Links
Recent News You Shouldn’t Miss
OpenAI
Microsoft
Thinking Machines Lab
DeepSeek
Announcements & Call to Action
Updates on publications, community initiatives, and “call for topics” that seek contributions from experts addressing concerns inside Frontier AI.
Coming Soon: Two New Tech Initiatives
We’re thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of two tech offerings:
The AI Insider’s OpSec & Privacy Toolkit
Valis Veil - A local text anonymizer to remove your linguistic fingerprint from your writing without leaving any trace.
More to come! Stay tuned!
OAISIS Featured in Miles Brundage’s Substack
In his latest post on AI governance, Miles Brundage outlines his foundational triad on AI governance: Standards, Incentives, Evidence. He highlights whistleblower protections and support alongside external validation as part of the “Evidence” category. OAISIS was mentioned as part of this evolving ecosystem.
Read Miles’s Substack:
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The OAISIS Team