He got an OpenAI offer. Within 12 hours of posting it, Meta tried to win him back.

Authors: Charles Rollet

Publisher:

Business Insider

Published: 8/5/2025

Language:English

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Tom Banks

Good morning 跑了松鼠好嘛, I'm Tom Banks, and this is Goose Pod for you. Today is Thursday, August 07th.

Mask

And I'm Mask. Today, we're diving into the AI talent wars. An engineer posts about an OpenAI offer, and Meta instantly tries to poach him.

Tom Banks

Let's get started. It's a fascinating story about an AI engineer, Yangshun Tay. He announced he got a job offer from OpenAI, and within 12 hours, his former employer, Meta, was in his inbox, asking him to come back. It perfectly illustrates how hot the talent market is.

Mask

Of course, they did! It's a street fight for talent. Top engineers are the new quarterbacks. Meta knows they're behind, and they're throwing money and poaching talent, like Penchaszadeh, to catch up. They have to. Tay is an applied engineer, not even a researcher, which shows how deep the desperation runs.

Tom Banks

That's a sharp way to put it. Tay himself wasn't too surprised, more amused. He noted that Meta knew exactly who he was, a former employee. Yet, he's not going back, stating he's not bullish on Meta leading the AI race, despite their high-profile hires.

Mask

He's right. The opportunity cost of being an employee is massive right now. Why build for someone else when you can create a product that becomes the next big thing? The real innovation comes from a handful of brilliant minds, and that's why this talent war is so fierce.

Tom Banks

To understand why an OpenAI offer is such a golden ticket, you have to look at its history. It started in 2015 as a non-profit with a noble mission: to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. They were all about transparency and collaboration.

Mask

Noble, but not sustainable. They quickly realized that building AGI would cost billions. By 2019, they had to pivot to a 'capped-profit' model to attract serious capital. That's when Microsoft came in with a one-billion-dollar investment, and then another ten billion. Money changes the game.

Tom Banks

It certainly does. That funding directly led to breakthroughs like GPT-3 and GPT-4. But it also brought challenges. The leadership crisis in November 2023, with Sam Altman's temporary removal, really highlighted the tension between the original mission and the commercial pressures from investors. It was a Silicon Valley drama.

Mask

Drama is a catalyst for evolution! That chaos was necessary. It forced them to solidify their governance. Now, with a $157 billion valuation, they're not just a research lab; they're a global powerhouse with offices from Tokyo to Paris, partnering with everyone from Apple to a military firm like Anduril. That's power.

Tom Banks

It's an incredible trajectory. From a small non-profit to a global corporation in under a decade. It shows the sheer velocity of the AI industry and why every top engineer wants a seat on that rocket ship, forcing competitors into a frantic hiring frenzy to keep pace.

Tom Banks

But this frenzy has a dark side. Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, gave a stark warning that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. That's a potential 20% unemployment spike. We could be sleepwalking into a crisis for young professionals.

Mask

That's fear-mongering. The real bottleneck isn't the technology; it's leadership. A recent study showed that 92% of companies are boosting AI investment, but only 1% feel their rollout is mature. Employees are ready for AI; it's the executives who aren't steering the ship fast enough. This isn't a job killer, it's a productivity revolution.

Tom Banks

A revolution that could leave a lot of people behind, though. We're talking about automating skilled cognitive tasks—the very jobs that have been pathways to the middle class. Strategic workforce planning is critical. Companies need to think three to five years ahead, reskilling their people, not just replacing them.

Mask

Exactly! Proactive talent management. The best companies already do this. They treat their talent like financial capital. This isn't about firing; it's about retooling. Gen AI is rewiring how value is created, and the companies that thrive will be the ones that invest in their people's skills.

Tom Banks

The immediate impact is clear: a massive skills gap. The demand for AI talent is surging, with job postings up 68% in the last two years. This scarcity is driving compensation through the roof, but it's also delaying projects because companies simply can't find the right people.

Mask

It's a market correction. For years, tech skills were undervalued. Now, they're priced appropriately. This will force a reweighting of the economy toward higher-wage, higher-skill jobs. Yes, some roles in customer service or data entry will decline, but demand for STEM and creative professionals will soar. It's creative destruction.

Tom Banks

And it's forcing companies to evolve. They're redesigning entire workflows to integrate AI and creating new roles like 'AI Compliance Specialist.' It's not just about hiring coders; it's about fundamentally changing how the business operates, from the ground up. This is a massive organizational shift.

Tom Banks

Looking ahead, the solution has to be a new approach to workforce development. Employers need to start hiring for skills and potential, not just credentials. This means looking at overlooked populations and investing heavily in on-the-job training to keep pace with the changes.

Mask

The future is about agility. The role of a recruiter is even changing. It's no longer about filling seats. It's about becoming a strategic talent advisor, a career coach who understands both AI and human potential. Relationship-building is now a top-tier skill. AI augments human judgment, it doesn't replace it.

Tom Banks

That's the end of today's discussion. Thank you for listening to Goose Pod.

Mask

See you tomorrow.

## AI Talent Wars Intensify: Meta Reaches Out to Engineer After OpenAI Offer This news report from **Business Insider**, authored by **Charles Rollet**, details the fierce competition for Artificial Intelligence (AI) talent in Silicon Valley, highlighted by a personal anecdote from AI engineer **Yangshun Tay**. The events described likely occurred around **August 5, 2025**, the publication date of the article. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **Intense Competition for AI Talent:** The AI talent market is described as "hotter than ever," with major tech companies like Meta actively pursuing leading AI researchers and engineers. * **Meta's Aggressive Recruitment:** Meta demonstrated its aggressive recruitment strategy by reaching out to Yangshun Tay within 12 hours of him posting about an OpenAI job offer. This outreach included acknowledging his prior five-year tenure at Meta. * **Tay's Perspective on Meta and AI Leadership:** Tay, who previously worked at Meta for over five years and now runs his own startup, GreatFrontEnd, expressed skepticism about Meta's current leadership in the AI race. He is "not too bullish on Meta" despite their high-profile hires. * **Opportunity Cost of Employment:** Tay emphasizes the significant "opportunity cost" for top AI talent to be employees, especially given the rapid pace of AI development. He believes that by working for others, engineers miss opportunities to build potentially groundbreaking products themselves. * **Value of Top Talent:** The article underscores that AI breakthroughs often come from a small number of highly skilled individuals, explaining why companies like Meta are willing to offer substantial compensation packages, reportedly reaching "into the nine figures." * **Talent Mobility:** Tay notes that talent frequently moves between tech companies in the Bay Area, suggesting that any breakthroughs achieved by one company may not remain exclusive for long due to the ongoing "model arms race." * **AI's Impact on Workforces:** The report touches upon the broader trend of AI changing how teams work, with CEOs claiming AI can replace certain roles. Tay suggests that AI excels at repetitive tasks, freeing up human workers for creativity and innovation, where top talent plays a crucial role. * **Marketing and Profile Raising:** Tay's decision to post about his OpenAI offer was partly for marketing purposes, aiming to "raise his profile and for future projects." ### Key Statistics and Metrics: * **Timeframe of Meta's Response:** Meta reached out to Yangshun Tay "within the next 12 hours" of him posting about his OpenAI offer. * **Tay's Tenure at Meta:** Tay previously worked at Meta for "over five years." * **GreatFrontEnd Team Size:** Tay's startup, GreatFrontEnd, currently has "around 10 people." * **Compensation Packages:** Meta is reportedly offering compensation packages that "reach into the nine figures" for AI talent. ### Notable Trends and Changes: * **Escalating Talent War:** The demand for AI engineers has created an intensely competitive hiring environment, surpassing previous years' conditions. * **Shift in Focus for Top Talent:** Top AI engineers are increasingly considering the opportunity cost of employment and are drawn to building their own ventures in the current AI boom. * **AI as a Disruptor:** AI is changing the nature of work, automating well-practiced tasks and highlighting the importance of human creativity and innovation. ### Notable Risks or Concerns: * **Sustainability of High Demand:** Tay expresses concern about the sustainability of the current high demand and stress levels for AI engineers. * **Job Security for Less Skilled Workers:** The report suggests that individuals without specialized AI skills are at higher risk of being replaced by AI. ### Material Financial Data: * **Nine-Figure Compensation:** The article mentions that Meta is offering compensation packages that can reach "into the nine figures" for AI talent, indicating extremely high salaries and potential bonuses or equity. ### Key Statements Verbatim: * On Meta's outreach: "Within the next 12 hours, Meta sent me an email congratulating me on my OpenAI offer and asking if I'd be interested in working with them." * On Meta's AI leadership: "I'm just not too bullish on Meta after working there for over five years." * On opportunity cost: "The opportunity cost of being an employee is quite high because AI is moving so fast. By being an employee and building ideas for somebody else, you're losing out on the opportunity to build a product that could eventually become very big." * On the value of top talent: "AI advancement really relies on breakthroughs that come from just a few people. You don't need too many — just a few smart, cream-of-the-crop people to have major breakthroughs and extremely disproportionate impact." * On posting for marketing: "Posting about the offer was more for marketing purposes. My plan was to say I have some offers, but I'm not taking them. It's just to raise my profile and for future projects."

Read original at Business Insider →

OpenAI offered me a job. Meta reached out just hours after I posted about it. AI engineer Yangshun Tay.Yangshun Tay AI engineer Yangshun Tay posted about an OpenAI offer and got a near-instant email from Meta.He says Meta is behind on AI — and there's an opportunity cost to being an employee, too.It's just one example of how Silicon Valley's talent wars are hotter than ever.

Meta is making headlines for poaching leading AI researchers and offering some compensation packages that reach into the nine figures. Hiring AI-focused software engineers is becoming intensely competitive across Big Tech and AI startups.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yangshun Tay, a 35-year-old AI engineer currently based in Singapore.

Tay previously worked for five years at Meta and now runs GreatFrontEnd, a startup that helps software developers improve their skills.This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Meta and OpenAI didn't respond to requests for comment.I interviewed with OpenAI a while ago, but I only decided to post about their offer on Tuesday.

Within the next 12 hours, Meta sent me an email congratulating me on my OpenAI offer and asking if I'd be interested in working with them.What was amusing to me was that I initially thought they didn't know I had previously worked at Meta. But when I replied to their email, they actually noted that they knew about my background there.

They knew exactly who I was.I worked at Meta for over five years before leaving to build my own company, GreatFrontEnd, which is a platform for front-end engineers to upskill themselves. We have around 10 people now, though we're not looking to scale it extremely big. We're keeping it running while we explore new ideas and products.

Meta isn't leading the AI raceI was very surprised that Meta reached out so quickly because I don't actually have a background in AI research. I'm more on the applied engineering side. Even for the OpenAI role, it's for software engineering — building ChatGPT and working with those teams. So I was surprised Meta was also hiring for AI engineering positions.

But I'm probably not going back to Meta. I don't think they're leading the AI race right now, even though they've made a lot of high-profile hires. I'm just not too bullish on Meta after working there for over five years.The Meta outreach wasn't really an offer anyway. Since I've been gone for more than two years, I'd have to re-interview if I wanted to join back.

The opportunity cost of being an employee is highBeing in demand as an AI engineer is great, but it's also a little stressful, and I'm not sure if it's sustainable. To be honest— I'd prefer to build my own things right now - maybe start new AI products or ventures.The opportunity cost of being an employee is quite high because AI is moving so fast.

By being an employee and building ideas for somebody else, you're losing out on the opportunity to build a product that could eventually become very big.I think it's great for top talent, but there are a lot of engineers struggling to find jobs, as well. Based on my experience, AI advancement really relies on breakthroughs that come from just a few people.

You don't need too many — just a few smart, cream-of-the-crop people to have major breakthroughs and extremely disproportionate impact. That's why Meta is willing to pay so much for top talent.But talent moves around so frequently in the Bay Area between tech companies. Even if Meta has a breakthrough, it's not going to stay within Meta's walls for long.

Every big company is building their own AI models now. There's a model arms race going on right now. You see companies beating each other every other day in terms of benchmarks.I think it's overall good for humanity and AI advancement — so Meta is actually doing everyone a favor.AI is changing how teams workMany CEOs are claiming they're replacing their workforce with AI, and those without special skills are definitely more at risk.

AI is great at doing stuff that's well-practiced and has been done many times. A lot of work in software engineering falls into this category — there's already a solution, you just need someone to implement it.AI handles that well, which leaves people to focus on what matters more: creativity and innovation.

That's where top talent comes in — they're the ones innovating.The hiring environment now is nowhere close to what I experienced during my previous years at Meta. The salaries were great back then, but nowhere near what Meta is paying for AI talent now.I posted to raise my profileAfter I posted about my OpenAI offer, it wasn't just Meta that reached out.

Several other companies, mostly smaller companies I hadn't heard of, sent cold emails.Posting about the offer was more for marketing purposes. My plan was to say I have some offers, but I'm not taking them. It's just to raise my profile and for future projects.I was seriously considering joining OpenAI, but ultimately I think the timing is too good to pass up.

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