• Source:JND
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Musk’s statement was a direct response to reports that Meta had tried to poach more than 100 OpenAI employees, with at least ten accepting the offers. But rather than compete with Meta’s billion-dollar deals, Musk suggested xAI has been able to recruit from Meta by offering something different.

“Many strong Meta engineers have and are joining xAI and without the need for insane initial comp (still great, but not unsustainably high),” Musk posted.

He emphasised that xAI offers long-term value over flashy sign-on packages, claiming the startup has “vastly more market cap growth potential than Meta” and operates on a hyper merit-based system—where doing “something great” can lead to big pay increases.

Meta’s Billion-Dollar Bids for AI Talent

Meanwhile, Meta is taking an aggressive approach to recruiting. According to recent reports, the company has offered pay packages between $200 million and $1 billion over multiple years to attract elite AI researchers.

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These massive offers are reportedly part of a push to strengthen Meta’s Superintelligence Lab, which is tasked with building the next generation of AI models. Some of these high-stakes deals have been aimed at Thinking Machines Lab, a startup founded by a former OpenAI executive. But even with sky-high compensation, several engineers reportedly turned down Meta’s overtures.

Meta Also Recruiting From Apple

Meta isn’t just targeting OpenAI. The company has also lured away several high-ranking AI researchers from Apple. Most recently, Bowen Zhang, a key multimodal AI researcher, made the switch from Apple to Meta.

Prior to him, at least three other engineers from Apple’s AI team jumped ship, including Ruoming Pang, who headed the iPhone maker’s AFM (Apple Foundation Models) division. This trend signals Meta’s deep commitment — and willingness to outspend — when it comes to assembling top-tier AI teams.

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What’s Driving Engineers to xAI?

While Meta is pulling talent with money, Musk seems to be betting on xAI’s growth potential, mission-driven culture, and meritocracy as the real differentiators. Musk’s assertion that xAI compensation can “shift substantially higher” based on performance hints at equity-heavy deals — ideal for those looking for long-term upside.

It’s a classic tech debate: upfront pay vs. equity and purpose. And right now, Musk’s play appears to be gaining traction.

Final Thoughts

Elon Musk’s xAI isn’t trying to outbid Meta’s billion-dollar offers — but it might not need to. With promises of rapid growth, a mission-focused team, and a performance-based reward system, xAI is quietly building a competitive edge in the AI hiring war. The question is, how long can this strategy hold if the compensation arms race keeps escalating?