Does OpenAI overpay staff?
Elon Musk’s AI firm, xAI, filed a 107-page criticism in opposition to OpenAI in November, accusing the ChatGPT maker of “aggressively recruiting staff with presents of lavish compensation” and spending “$1.5 billion on personnel for simply 1,500 staff.” The precise variety of staff OpenAI has is unclear: Based on 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 herald extra AI expertise than it wants to stop rivals 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 purposes filed by OpenAI final yr.
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The info applies to overseas staff employed by OpenAI on specialty visas, just like the H-1B, and presents a peek into the in any other case undisclosed pay that OpenAI presents 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 exhibits that OpenAI sometimes presents 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 provided the same vary by comparability, paying 10 roles salaries starting from $250,000 to $500,000. Nonetheless, xAI’s salaries have been solely 37% increased than the typical prevailing wage, indicating much less of a spot between anticipated salaries and pay that staff have been awarded.
Associated: How A lot Do Tesla Staff Make? Inner 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 essentially the most above the prevailing wage, based on specialty visa knowledge. These jobs have the very best p.c distinction between the typical prevailing wage and the typical wage at OpenAI.
1. Member of Communications Workers
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $286,000
Common prevailing wage: $95,098
P.c distinction: 201%
2. Member of Information Science Workers
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $310,000
Common prevailing wage: $116,646
P.c distinction: 166%
3. Member of Product Workers
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $310,000
Common prevailing wage: $134,590
P.c distinction: 130%
4. Member of Technical Workers (Analysis & AI Techniques)
Common wage paid by OpenAI: $399,545
Common prevailing wage: $176,123
P.c distinction: 127%
5. Member of Technical Workers (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.