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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Aura Windfall

Good morning mikey1101, I'm Aura Windfall, and this is Goose Pod for you. Today is Friday, August 08th. What I know for sure is that today's topic is a fascinating one.

Mask

And I'm Mask. We're here to discuss a modern-day gladiator story: an engineer gets an OpenAI offer, and within 12 hours of posting about it, Meta tries to wrestle him back. It's a war out there.

Aura Windfall

Let's get started. It's the story of AI engineer Yangshun Tay. He posted about his job offer from OpenAI, and almost immediately, his former employer, Meta, reached out. It speaks volumes about finding your value and purpose in this competitive landscape.

Mask

Value is determined by leverage. Tay knew what he was doing. This isn't just about one engineer; it's a symptom of the insane talent wars in Silicon Valley. Meta is throwing nine-figure compensation packages at people to bleed their competitors, especially OpenAI, dry.

Aura Windfall

It's true, the numbers are staggering. We're hearing reports of offers worth tens of millions per year, even whispers of billion-dollar packages over several years. It’s about more than just money, though; it’s about where you feel you can make the biggest impact.

Mask

Impact follows power. Meta's CEO is personally recruiting, building a "Superintelligence Lab" by poaching top names. They’re playing to win. Some call the reported numbers 'inaccurate,' but the strategy is clear: acquire the best minds at any cost. It's a model arms race.

Aura Windfall

To understand this battle, you have to look at OpenAI's journey. It was founded in 2015 with such a pure-hearted mission: to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. It was a non-profit, focused on transparency and collaboration. A beautiful spirit.

Mask

A noble, but flawed, mission. They quickly realized that building AGI would require billions, not idealistic blog posts. Staying a non-profit was untenable. The shift in 2019 to a "capped-profit" model was the only logical move. You can't compete without capital.

Aura Windfall

And that's when the landscape truly changed. Microsoft invested a billion dollars, then a reported ten billion more. This infusion of capital allowed for breakthroughs like GPT-3 and GPT-4, but it also placed them directly in the crosshairs of other giants, creating today's battlefield.

Mask

Exactly. Now everyone is in the fight. The AI talent war in 2025 is at a fever pitch. We’re talking about companies like Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, not just Meta, committing tens of billions to AI infrastructure and poaching elite talent with compensation packages that sound like a pro athlete's contract.

Aura Windfall

It’s a whirlwind of activity. And what I find so interesting is that while these companies are building their ranks, the very technology they’re creating is raising questions about the future of work for everyone else. It's a moment that calls for deep reflection.

Aura Windfall

There's a deep tension here. On one hand, you have leaders like Anthropic's CEO warning that AI could disrupt half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within a few years. It’s a frightening thought that creates a lot of anxiety about the future for many.

Mask

It’s not frightening, it’s evolution. Zuckerberg predicts by 2025, an AI will be a mid-level engineer. This is creative destruction. You clear out the repetitive tasks to make way for true innovation. The only real vulnerability is complacency. A "white-collar bloodbath" is just progress.

Aura Windfall

But what’s fascinating is that the data shows the biggest barrier isn't the technology or even employee readiness. It's leadership. Only 1% of companies feel they've reached AI maturity because leaders aren't steering the ship fast enough. The workforce is ready for change!

Mask

That’s the core of the problem. While CEOs talk about replacing humans, their own lack of speed is the bottleneck. It's a management issue, not a tech issue. They need to be bolder and rewire their companies to actually harness the power they're investing so heavily in.

Aura Windfall

And the immediate impact is this incredible surge in demand. AI-related job postings in the U.S. jumped 68% in two years. This creates a huge opportunity for growth, but it also reveals a significant skills gap. It's a call for us all to embrace learning.

Mask

That skills gap is why compensation is skyrocketing. It's simple supply and demand. Companies are being forced to redesign entire workflows and create new roles, like AI compliance specialists, just to manage the technology they're implementing. It’s a complete organizational rewiring.

Aura Windfall

What I know for sure is that this is leading to a profound shift. Half the current workforce may need retraining. It’s not about job loss, but about job transformation. It’s a chance to align our work with our deeper purpose and creativity.

Aura Windfall

Looking forward, it's clear this is about more than just technology. The most in-demand skills are becoming human ones: relationship building, communication, and coaching. Recruiters are becoming talent advisors, guiding people through this new landscape with empathy and wisdom. It’s a beautiful evolution.

Mask

Automation is accelerating, and the global talent pool is surging, with hotspots like India and the US leading the charge. The future belongs to organizations that can master this new reality, integrating human talent and AI with ruthless efficiency to dominate their industries.

Aura Windfall

That's the end of today's discussion. What a powerful exploration of talent, technology, and truth. Thank you for listening to Goose Pod. 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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