In August, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against Sam Altman's OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT developer of using "extravagant" compensation packages to attract talent and crush competitors.

Business Insider analyzed salary data from OpenAI and xAI's special visa applications in 2024. What they have in common is that both pay well above the norm, reflecting the expensive competition for AI talent.

According to Pitchbook, xAI employs about 100 people, while OpenAI employs about 3,000.

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Recruiting the best AI talent is a top priority for both xAI and OpenAI. Photo: Plus500

The profiles of 10 xAI employees and 86 OpenAI employees show that they were paid 37% and 87% more than the typical or going wage for industry positions, respectively.

The prevailing wage, as determined by the Department of Labor, represents the average wage paid to workers in a particular occupation, within a defined geographic area.

When hiring workers on special visas like the H-1B, employers must pay them at least the prevailing wage.

Data from filings with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that 10 xAI employees were paid between $250,000 and $500,000, with one machine learning engineer earning nearly double the current salary.

For OpenAI, the company pays between $145,000 and $530,000 for H-1B workers, including one who was paid three times the going wage.

Elon Musk and Sam Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015. However, he resigned from OpenAI three years later, citing potential conflicts of interest.

Since then, he has continued to attack Altman and OpenAI. Musk also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, but withdrew the lawsuit earlier this year and filed a new one in August.

In addition to accusing OpenAI of anti-competition, Musk's lawyers said his client was "deceived" and "manipulated" into co-founding the startup.

OpenAI, in turn, countered in its motion to dismiss the lawsuit that Musk only wanted to harass OpenAI for his own benefit.

Emails between Musk, Altman, and other OpenAI employees from 2015 to 2016 show Musk repeatedly emphasizing the importance of hiring the best AI talent.

In the email exchange, the Tesla CEO wrote that hiring should be OpenAI's "most important consideration" and that the company should do "whatever it takes to bring in the aces."

Based on LinkedIn profiles, xAI has hired at least nine former OpenAI employees, including co-founder Igor Babuschkin, since Musk introduced the startup in 2023.

(According to Insider)