Does OpenAI overpay staff?
Elon Musk’s AI firm, xAI, filed a 107-page grievance towards OpenAI in November, accusing the ChatGPT maker of “aggressively recruiting staff with affords of lavish compensation” and spending “$1.5 billion on personnel for simply 1,500 staff.” The precise variety of staff OpenAI has is unclear: In keeping with the worker database RocketReach, OpenAI has 4,768 workers members.
Musk alleges that OpenAI has tried to cut back competitors by “providing vastly inflated compensation” to usher in extra AI expertise than it wants to forestall opponents from hiring these individuals.
So, what does OpenAI’s compensation appear like, and is it actually as “lavish” or “inflated” as Musk makes it out to be? A new Enterprise Insider evaluation examined wage knowledge from specialty visa functions filed by OpenAI final 12 months.
Associated: Microsoft’s Wage Pointers Have been Leaked — This is How A lot New Staff Make
The info applies to overseas staff employed by OpenAI on specialty visas, just like the H-1B, and affords a peek into the in any other case undisclosed pay that OpenAI affords its staff.
BI in contrast the specialty visa wage knowledge to the “prevailing wage,” or common wage paid to staff as decided by the U.S. Division of Labor. Staff employed on specialty visas should make at the very least as a lot because the prevailing wage.
BI’s comparability reveals that OpenAI usually affords pay above the prevailing wage for a number of roles, together with communications and knowledge science positions. The 86 roles for which BI obtained specialty visa knowledge have salaries starting from $145,000 to $530,000 and paid, on common, 87% greater than the norm set by the Division of Labor.
Musk’s xAI supplied the same vary by comparability, paying 10 roles salaries starting from $250,000 to $500,000. Nonetheless, xAI’s salaries had been solely 37% greater than the common prevailing wage, indicating much less of a niche between anticipated salaries and pay that staff had been awarded.
Associated: How A lot Do Tesla Staff Make? Inside Docs Reveal the Shocking Salaries of Elon Musk’s ‘Hardcore’ Staffers.
How A lot OpenAI Pays
These are the highest 5 roles for which OpenAI paid probably the most above the prevailing wage, in response to specialty visa knowledge. These jobs have the best p.c distinction between the common prevailing wage and the common wage at OpenAI.
1. Member of Communications Employees
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $286,000
Common prevailing wage: $95,098
P.c distinction: 201%
2. Member of Information Science Employees
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $310,000
Common prevailing wage: $116,646
P.c distinction: 166%
3. Member of Product Employees
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $310,000
Common prevailing wage: $134,590
P.c distinction: 130%
4. Member of Technical Employees (Analysis & AI Methods)
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $399,545
Common prevailing wage: $176,123
P.c distinction: 127%
5. Member of Technical Employees (Software program Engineering)
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $289,373
Common prevailing wage: $141,001
P.c distinction: 105%
For the total report, click on right here.