DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis thinks Meta's multi-billion dollar hiring spree shows it's scrambling to catch up in the AI race

Meta has been on a multi-billion dollar hiring spree in recent months, and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis thinks it shows the company is scrambling to keep pace in the AI race.

In a recent appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast, Hassabis suggested the tech giant is fighting tooth and nail to catch competitors in the space, noting that they’re “not at the frontier” – and top AI talent could bridge the gap.

“It’s probably rational what they’re doing from their perspective because they’re behind and they need to do something,” he told Fridman.

Spearheaded by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s quest to secure top talent has seen the tech giant dangle eye-watering offers to high-profile figures from the generative AI space.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last month that Meta had attempted to poach AI researchers with signing-on bonuses as high as $100 million. These sums pale in comparison to another big money offer put to a leading industry figure.

Zuckerberg reportedly reached out with an offer to acquire the startup launched by OpenAI’s former CTO, Mira Murati. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, the offer was knocked back and staff at the startup were met with an onslaught of job offers.

The proposal, put to co-founder Andrew Tulloch, included a billion-dollar package that could exceed $1.5 billion over six years with bonuses taken into account, sources told the WSJ.

Billion-dollar pay packages for a single individual may seem unlikely, but given Meta’s current focus, it’s clear Zuckerberg is willing to part with cash to secure the industry’s top figures.

In June, the tech giant unveiled the launch of the Meta Superintelligence Labs, a new division aimed at driving development of new foundation models, including its Llama range.

Notably, the unit will be led by some other high-profile hires, including Scale AI’s former CEO, Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman, former chief executive at GitHub.

Wang, who now serves as Meta’s Chief AI officer, was brought onboard following the company’s $14.3 billion investment in the AI startup.

Hassabis noted that one key challenge facing Meta may lie in how many researchers view their role in pioneering the technology – they’re looking to “steward the technology safely into the world”.

“There’s more important things than just money,” he told Fridman. Of course, one has to pay people their market rates and all of these things, and that continues to go up.”

The quest for top AI talent

Lower down the food chain, the same talent-related issues are affecting enterprises across a range of industries. Since the advent of generative AI in late 2022, enterprises have faced acute shortages of workers with AI skills.

Research from Amazon Web Services (AWS) in early 2024 showed some employers are willing to pay a 31% premium for staff with relevant AI expertise.

The findings, based on a survey of IT leaders, showed that staff with experience in research and development also command a 30% premium. Workers with AI skills in domains such as marketing, finance, and sales, can also expect a 27% pay bump, the survey found.

Similar research from Indeed in February 2024 showed that workers with AI skills can expect to command a wage 47% higher than those without.

Higher salary demands also create a bigger strain on budgets, however. Analysis from CloudZero found that while investment in the technology is surging, expectations among top talent mean hiring is a challenge for some enterprises.

35% of companies surveyed by the firm said rising salary costs are among the biggest barriers to filling gaps in their AI talent pool, further exacerbating the issue.

All told, typical salaries top $100,000, the study found, with a quarter earning between $150,000 and $200,000.

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