OpenAI Awards Over $1 Million in Bonuses to 1,000 Employees Amid Talent Battle

OpenAI has announced a sweeping bonus initiative, distributing multimillion-dollar retention packages to about 1,000 employees just hours after unveiling its much-anticipated GPT-5 model on August 7, 2025. The move represents one of the company’s largest talent retention efforts to date as it faces stiff competition from tech giants like Meta in the global race for artificial intelligence expertise.

Massive Retention Bonuses After GPT-5 Launch

According to reports from The Verge, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared details of the “special one-time award” in an internal Slack message. The bonuses target researchers and engineers in applied engineering, scaling, and safety teams — roles critical to the company’s AI model development.

The payout scale is significant:

• Engineers: Hundreds of thousands of dollars each

• Top AI Researchers: Single-digit millions

These bonuses cover roughly one-third of OpenAI’s 3,000 employees and are intended to keep the company’s most valuable technical experts from being poached by competitors.

Meta’s Aggressive AI Talent Hunt

The announcement comes in direct response to Meta’s unprecedented recruitment push led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Reports suggest Meta is offering compensation packages worth up to $300 million over four years to attract elite AI researchers.

Meta has already recruited at least 11 employees from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to join its newly formed Superintelligence Labs. The talent drain prompted OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer Mark Chen to compare Meta’s hiring tactics to “someone breaking into our home and stealing something.”

OpenAI leaders also revealed that Meta approached some researchers with $100 million signing bonuses. In one notable case, Meta reportedly offered former OpenAI engineer Andrew Tulloch a staggering $1.5 billion package over six years — an offer he declined.

Flexible Payment Structure for Retention Awards

The multimillion-dollar bonuses will be distributed quarterly over two years. Employees can choose to receive payments in cash, OpenAI stock, or a mix of both. This flexibility aims to align employee incentives with the company’s long-term growth.

The timing aligns with OpenAI’s plans for a secondary stock sale that could push its valuation to $500 billion, up from the current $300 billion. This 67% increase reflects the company’s accelerating revenue, which has already hit $13 billion annually and is on track to exceed $20 billion by the end of 2025.

Explosive User and Business Growth

OpenAI’s commercial success is equally striking. The company now serves 700 million weekly ChatGPT users and has expanded its base of paid business subscribers to five million. This growth has been a major driver behind its increased valuation and the financial capacity to fund massive retention efforts.

Global AI Talent Shortage Intensifies

Industry data highlights the scarcity of AI expertise worldwide, with only about 2,000 specialists possessing the skills to develop foundational AI models. This shortage has driven average AI engineer salaries up from $156,000 in 2024 to $206,000 in 2025.

The escalating pay war shows no signs of slowing. One OpenAI employee told Wired that Meta’s multi-hundred-million-dollar packages are “about how much it would take for me to go work at Meta,” underscoring the extraordinary financial offers now circulating in the AI space.

Morale Boost Amid Selective Bonuses

While some employees expressed concern that selective bonuses might impact team cohesion, the GPT-5 launch and subsequent awards have largely lifted morale. Many OpenAI staff reportedly celebrated together at a local venue following the announcement, reflecting a renewed sense of unity and excitement about the company’s direction.

The Bigger Picture: Money, Innovation, and Retention

OpenAI’s aggressive bonus strategy reflects a broader trend in the tech industry: high-value financial incentives, strategic hiring defenses, and rapid innovation are now standard tools in the battle for AI supremacy. As competition intensifies, companies are prepared to spend unprecedented sums to secure — and keep — the brightest minds in the field.

With GPT-5 setting a new benchmark in AI capability and OpenAI targeting a $500 billion valuation, the stakes in the AI talent war have never been higher.