Bloomberg reports that OpenAI employees who threatened to resign this week over the dismissal of CEO Sam Altman get paid up to $800,000.
The tech sector is renowned for paying its workers highly; many workers at companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon make well over six figures a year.
However, according to salary data portal Levels.fyi, engineers working for tech companies with a specialization in artificial intelligence might earn 8% to 12.5% more than other engineers, as reported by Bloomberg.
According to job listings that Bloomberg investigated, the majority of engineering posts at OpenAI pay between $200,000 and $370,000, with some highly specialized skills paying closer to $450,000.
However, incentives and stock awards—which can push the total remuneration for certain OpenAI engineers closer to $800,000—are not included in tech-firm salaries.
Many businesses are looking to hire people with machine learning skills as a result of the AI boom. However, because there is a shortage of people with technological understanding despite the strong demand for skill, employers regard these employees highly and give them power in addition to high compensation. The New York Times claims that some AI experts earn an annual salary of more than $1 million.
These workers at OpenAI were crucial to Altman’s eventual rehire at the AI startup after his abrupt firing last week.
The board of OpenAI said in a statement on Friday that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board” but provided no other information.
