Meta is spending millions to lure AI talent because it’s currently behind, says Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.
On the latest "Lex Fridman" podcast, Hassabis called Meta’s massive pay packages “rational” but warned many AI researchers care more about mission than money.
"Meta right now are not at the frontier, maybe they’ll they’ll manage to get back on there," Hassabis said.
"It’s probably rational what they’re doing from their perspective because they’re behind and they need to do something."
"There’s more important things than just money," he added.
"Of course, one has to pay people their market rates and all of these things, and that continues to go up."
Meta recently launched an aggressive war for AI talent with offers up to $100 million to pull researchers from OpenAI and other top labs into its “superintelligence division.” Big names like former GitHub chief Nat Friedman and ex-OpenAI scientists Shengjia Zhao and Hongyu Ren have joined.
Anthropic cofounder Benjamin Mann backed Hassabis on the mission focus in a separate interview. He said Anthropic’s team stayed put despite big offers because they want to “affect the future of humanity,” not just chase cash.
Salary filings show steep pay hikes across AI labs. OpenAI tech staff average $292,000, Anthropic tops $387,000, and startup Thinking Machines Lab pays $450,000–$500,000.
Hassabis recalled the AI scene’s humble past.
"I remember when we were starting out back in 2010, I didn’t even pay myself for a couple of years because there wasn’t enough money. We couldn’t raise any money," he said.
"These days, interns are being paid the amount that we raised as our first entire seed round."
The talent war is driving up AI costs overall. At Google’s earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is “doing well through this moment.”
"We continue to look at both our retention metrics, as well as the new talent coming in, and both are healthy," Pichai said.
"I do know individual cases can make headlines, but when we look at numbers deeply, I think we are doing well through this moment."
Others are pushing noncompete contracts. Google DeepMind staff in the UK face 12-month bans on joining competitors after leaving, according to recent reports.
Meta’s all-in hiring blitz highlights the mounting pressure on AI giants to keep pace—in money, talent, and mission.
