Does OpenAI pay employees?
Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, deposited or 107 page complaint against OpenAI in November, accusing the ChatGPT creator of “aggressively recruiting employees with generous compensation offers” and spending “$1.5 billion on staffing for just 1,500 employees.” The actual number of employees OpenAI has is unclear: According to the RocketReach employee database, OpenAI has 4,768 staff members.
Musk claims that OpenAI has tried to undercut competition by “offering wildly inflated compensation” to bring in more AI talent than necessary to prevent competitors from hiring those people.
So what does OpenAI's compensation look like, and is it really as “generous” or “inflated” as Musk makes it out to be? or new Business Insider analysis examined salary data from specialty visa applications submitted by OpenAI last year.
Related: Microsoft salary guidelines revealed – Here's how much new employees earn
The data applies to foreign workers employed by OpenAI on specialty visas, such as H-1B, and provides a look at the undisclosed salary that OpenAI offers its employees.
BI compared salary data for specialty visas to the “prevailing wage,” or average wage paid to workers as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor. Employees employed on specialty visas must make at least the prevailing wage.
The BI comparison shows that OpenAI typically offers salaries above the prevailing wage for some roles, including communications and data science positions. The 86 roles for which BI obtained specialty visa data have salaries ranging from $145,000 to $530,000 and pay an average of 87% more than the rate set by the Department of Labor.
Musk's xAI offered a similar range in comparison, paying 10 roles salaries ranging from $250,000 to $500,000. However, xAI wages were only 37% higher than the prevailing average wage, indicating a smaller gap between expected wages and what workers were paid.
How much does OpenAI pay?
These are the top five roles for which OpenAI paid more than the prevailing wage, according to specialty visa data. These jobs have the highest percentage difference between the prevailing average salary and the average OpenAI salary.
1. Member of the Communication Staff
Average salary paid by OpenAI: $286,000
Prevailing Median Salary: $95,098
Percentage difference: 201%
2. Data Science Staff Member
Average salary paid by OpenAI: $310,000
Prevailing Median Salary: $116,646
Percentage difference: 166%
3. Product Staff Member
Average salary paid by OpenAI: $310,000
Prevailing Median Salary: $134,590
Percentage difference: 130%
4. Member of Technical Staff (Search Systems and AI)
Average salary paid by OpenAI: $399,545
Prevailing Median Salary: $176,123
Percentage difference: 127%
5. Member of the Technical Staff (Software Engineering)
Average salary paid by OpenAI: $289,373
Prevailing Median Salary: $141,001
Percentage difference: 105%
For the full report, click here.