OpenAI’s compensation numbers reveal the true cost of winning the AI talent war: stock-based compensation averaging $865,000 per employee. This isn’t just generous—it’s industry-reshaping, setting benchmarks that competitors must match or lose access to top talent.
Source: The Information
The figure dwarfs typical tech compensation. Even at peak valuations, FAANG companies rarely approached these per-employee numbers. OpenAI is paying talent premiums that reflect both the scarcity of AI expertise and the stakes of the race they’re running.
AI talent is genuinely scarce. Perhaps a few thousand people globally possess the skills to advance frontier AI research. When multiple well-funded companies compete for this fixed pool, compensation spirals. OpenAI’s numbers suggest they’re determined to win regardless of cost.
This creates winner-take-all dynamics in the talent market. Companies that can’t match these packages lose access to top researchers. The gap between well-funded AI labs and everyone else widens with each compensation cycle.
The Sustainability Question
Can these compensation levels persist? Only if OpenAI’s valuation continues rising—stock compensation requires exit events to realize value. The implicit bet: OpenAI becomes worth enough that $865K per employee looks like a bargain in retrospect.
The burn rate implied by these numbers is staggering. This is a company betting everything on winning the AI race—and paying accordingly.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
