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$100 million signing bonuses.
Not total compensation. Just the upfront check to switch teams.
The AI talent war just went nuclear with Zuck’s move!
Zuckerberg is personally calling AI researchers with packages that make NFL contracts look cheap:
- $300M four-year deals
- $100M+ signing bonuses
- Maybe 50 people on Earth who qualify
Sam Altman's response?
"Missionaries will beat mercenaries."
Easy to say when the mercenaries are getting $100M upfront.
Why Meta is this desperate
- Llama 4 flopped
- 64% retention rate (vs Anthropic's 80%)
- Bleeding talent to competitors
- OpenAI just dropped o1
Fall behind in AI = become MySpace watching Facebook take over.
There are maybe 50-100 people globally who can build frontier AI models.
One researcher can create billions in value.
The Transformer architecture came from individual insights that reshaped entire industries.
When the talent pool is that small and stakes are that high, normal rules don't apply.
And companies like Meta have huge cash piles for days like these.
Instagram acquisition.
WhatsApp acquisition.
And now OpenAI talent poach.
As a wise man once said:
“Never short Zuck!”
What This Means for YOU:
If you're building an AI startup, this should terrify you. The best talent is being vacuumed up by infinite cash.
But here's the thing - you don't need the world's top 50 AI researchers to build a successful business.
While Big Tech fights over AGI researchers, practical AI implementation is wide open:
- Build on OpenAI's API
- Use Claude to automate workflows
- Solve real problems with existing tools
The gold rush isn't just mining gold. It's selling picks and shovels.
Compete with:
- Better execution
- Faster shipping
- Deeper customer understanding
The future belongs to whoever builds the best products on existing models.
That is a multi billion dollar opportunity.
While Zuck and Altman fight over talent, you fight for customers.
That's a battle you can actually win.
Hit reply - are you building on existing AI models yet? 👇🏻
Tweet of the week
What do you consume, my friend?
Keep building
Tibo 💻
P.S. The irony? While they spend billions poaching talent, some kid in a garage is building the next breakout AI product using their APIs.
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