[Global Focus] AI Superstar Salaries Reach $130 Million... The 'Brain' War in Silicon Valley

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Wins the Recruitment War
Brought in Apple's LLM Head Ruoming Pang
With a 270 Billion Won Compensation Package

"At lunch, I met with Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and in the evening, I played poker with OpenAI founder Sam Altman, who developed ChatGPT. The next day, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, sent a private jet for me."

Noam Brown, the researcher who led OpenAI's achievements in math and science reasoning-based artificial intelligence (AI), recalled his job-hunting days in 2023 in this way. Around Brown alone, global tech giants such as xAI, OpenAI, Meta, and Google fiercely competed behind the scenes to recruit him. This is no exaggeration. Today, to recruit a single AI superstar-level researcher, CEOs or founders themselves make direct calls, have lunch together, and even dispatch private jets.

For AI companies, talent is not simply a team member who writes code. They are strategic assets that determine the performance of models, the future of the company, and the technological sovereignty of nations. "A developer who is ten times better is great, but now is an era that needs a researcher who delivers ten thousand times the impact." This statement by CEO Altman clearly shows how companies today view AI talent.

AI Talent Determines Corporate Fate... Silicon Valley's 'Superstar' Recruitment Battle

Right now, Silicon Valley is waging a silent war over 'AI brains.' Companies are investing billions of dollars without hesitation to recruit superstar-level researchers. The concept of a signing bonus, commonly seen in professional sports contracts, has even emerged. Reuters described the increasingly fierce and sophisticated competition for AI research talent as "scouting competition on the level of professional athletes."

Meta is at the forefront of this war. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently recruited major AI talent from Apple, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others. In particular, he brought in Ruoming Pang, who previously led Apple's in-house large language model (LLM) development, by offering a total compensation package of $200 million (about 270 billion won). This package reportedly included not only a base salary but also stock, performance bonuses, and long-term retention conditions. Pang is set to lead the 'Meta Superintelligence Lab,' an ambitious initiative established by CEO Zuckerberg.

CEO Altman criticized Meta, saying, "It's crazy," noting that Meta offered up to $100 million (about 137 billion won) in compensation packages to lure away his company's researchers. It is said that Meta has recently recruited at least 10 AI experts from OpenAI.

After losing key personnel to competitors, OpenAI recently announced that it would increase stock-based compensation to prevent further talent outflow. According to Levels, a website that tracks salary data, Meta pays AI engineers between $186,000 and $3.2 million (about 250 million to 4.35 billion won). OpenAI offers between $212,000 and $2.5 million (about 280 million to 3.4 billion won), with the median higher than Meta's.

The tech media outlet The Information reported, "OpenAI is reviewing compensation packages for some employees after recent talent losses," and "some talent have been offered options worth hundreds of millions of dollars." According to The Information, as of 2024, OpenAI spent $4.4 billion (about 6 trillion won) on stock-based compensation alone, which exceeds its 2023 revenue of $3.7 billion.

Google DeepMind is offering star researchers compensation packages worth up to $20 million per year. This includes irregular stock options and three-year early vesting (accelerated equity acquisition) conditions. Considering that the average annual salary in the tech industry is about $500,000, this is dozens of times higher.

LLM Researchers Are Extremely Rare... Astronomical Compensation Follows

The reason for such astronomical compensation for AI talent is their scarcity. It is estimated that there are fewer than 1,000 researchers worldwide capable of developing current LLM technology. This is why companies are offering unimaginable rewards and fiercely competing for them.

Fortune, a U.S. business magazine, stated, "The most intense competition today is over a handful of AI research scientists?fewer than 1,000 globally?who have the qualifications and capabilities to develop cutting-edge LLMs." Reuters also reported, "Several hundred to about 1,000 people worldwide play a decisive role in the advancement of LLM technology," emphasizing that these individuals determine the business outcomes of companies.

This is not only due to limited supply but also relates to enhancing corporate image. The Financial Times (FT) analyzed, "This war is not just about technology, but also about the market and reputation." Startups with star researchers can attract more investment, and listed companies can expect to defend their stock prices.

As the competition for talent intensifies, the value of AI experts continues to soar. According to FT, the annual compensation package for AI engineers typically ranges from $3 million to $7 million, about a 50% increase compared to 2022. For top-tier talent, salaries can exceed $10 million (about 1.38 billion won). According to tech recruitment firm Harrison Clarke, the total compensation for mid-to-senior-level researchers at big tech companies now reaches $500,000 to $2 million, more than double the upper limit of $900,000 in 2022, when the range was $400,000 to $900,000.

The competition for AI talent is not limited to big tech companies. Recently, demand for advanced AI researchers and engineers has been increasing across various industries, including insurance, finance, and entertainment. As AI is introduced into core functions such as credit risk assessment, automated asset management, and personalized content recommendations, the competition for AI professionals is spreading across all sectors. Business Insider reported, "AI-related hiring is growing rapidly in 2025, and especially in non-big tech industries, companies are hiring large numbers of talent with AI skills, such as solution architects and machine learning experts."

Although demand for AI talent is surging across diverse industries, companies with low brand recognition, such as startups, still face difficulties in attracting talent. Not only is it hard for them to offer high salaries like tech giants, but the psychological barriers perceived by talent are also significant.

For example, while OpenAI can offer mid-level engineers compensation packages exceeding $2 million, typical startups are limited to the $300,000?$400,000 range. Moreover, AI professionals tend to avoid joining companies with uncertain future growth and sustainability, fearing that failure or acquisition could negatively impact their careers.

Kyle Langworthy, an AI industry specialist at Riviera Partners, stated, "The less well-known a company is, the greater the difficulty it faces in building teams of AI, engineering, and product talent."

Concentration of AI Talent... Concerns Over Corporate Financial Health

As a significant portion of AI developers and researchers are concentrated in the United States?particularly in Silicon Valley and a few specific countries and cities?global talent imbalances are deepening. In a report published in October 2023, the Brookings Institution noted that, from 2022 to 2023, more than half of all generative AI-related jobs were created in just 10 cities. In particular, six major cities?San Francisco, San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Seattle?accounted for 47% of the total.

This concentration of talent threatens the survival of academia and small research institutions. Time magazine pointed out, "Resources are being concentrated in large corporations and elite research teams, pushing startups and less technologically advanced labs to the brink." FT also expressed concern over the erosion of ecosystem diversity, stating, "Big corporations' AI talent scouting is encroaching on university faculty as well."

The skyrocketing salary competition can create a sense of inequality within organizations and foster a short-term performance-driven atmosphere. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, pointed out, "CEO Zuckerberg's compensation strategy may create a sense of deprivation among existing employees, possibly leading to lines of complaints outside his office." CEO Altman has also publicly criticized Meta's recruitment methods, saying, "A strategy that makes people move for money alone can damage organizational culture."

There are concerns that excessive stock-based compensation could negatively affect corporate financial stability. Reuters reported, "The total amount of stock compensation at OpenAI has reached a level that exceeds its revenue, which could lead to risks such as investor equity dilution and declining profitability."