Elon Musk Is Accusing Openai Of 'offering Vastly Inflated Compensation.' Here's How Much Openai Employees Really Make, From Technical To Communications Roles

Does OpenAI overpay employees?

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, revenge a 107-page title against OpenAI successful November, accusing nan ChatGPT shaper of "aggressively recruiting labour pinch offers of lavish compensation" and spending "$1.5 cardinal connected portion for conscionable 1,500 employees." The existent number of labour OpenAI has is unclear: According to nan worker database RocketReach, OpenAI has 4,768 portion members.

Musk alleges that OpenAI has tried to trim title by "offering vastly inflated compensation" to bring successful overmuch AI talent than it needs to forestall competitors from hiring those people.

So, what does OpenAI's compensation look like, and is it really arsenic "lavish" aliases "inflated" arsenic Musk makes it retired to be? A caller Business Insider study examined costs accusation from specialty visa applications revenge by OpenAI past year.

Related: Microsoft's Salary Guidelines Were Leaked — Here's How Much New Employees Make

The accusation applies to overseas workers hired by OpenAI connected specialty visas, for illustration nan H-1B, and offers a peek into nan different undisclosed net that OpenAI offers its employees.

BI compared nan specialty visa nett accusation to nan "prevailing wage," aliases mean costs paid to workers arsenic wished by nan U.S. Department of Labor. Employees hired connected specialty visas must make astatine slightest arsenic overmuch arsenic nan prevailing wage.

BI's comparison shows that OpenAI typically offers net supra nan prevailing costs for respective roles, including communications and accusation taxable positions. The 86 roles for which BI obtained specialty visa accusation personification salaries ranging from $145,000 to $530,000 and paid, connected average, 87% overmuch than nan norm group by nan Department of Labor.

Musk's xAI offered a akin scope by comparison, paying 10 roles salaries ranging from $250,000 to $500,000. However, xAI's salaries were only 37% higher than nan mean prevailing wage, indicating small of a dispersed betwixt expected salaries and net that workers were awarded.

Related: How Much Do Tesla Employees Make? Internal Docs Reveal nan Surprising Salaries of Elon Musk's 'Hardcore' Staffers.

How Much OpenAI Pays

These are nan apical 5 roles for which OpenAI paid nan astir supra nan prevailing wage, according to specialty visa data. These jobs personification nan highest percent value betwixt nan mean prevailing costs and nan mean costs astatine OpenAI.

1. Member of Communications Staff

Average costs paid by OpenAI: $286,000

Average prevailing wage: $95,098

Percent difference: 201%

2. Member of Data Science Staff

Average costs paid by OpenAI: $310,000

Average prevailing wage: $116,646

Percent difference: 166%

3. Member of Product Staff

Average costs paid by OpenAI: $310,000

Average prevailing wage: $134,590

Percent difference: 130%

4. Member of Technical Staff (Research & AI Systems)

Average costs paid by OpenAI: $399,545

Average prevailing wage: $176,123

Percent difference: 127%

5. Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineering)

Average costs paid by OpenAI: $289,373

Average prevailing wage: $141,001

Percent difference: 105%

For nan afloat report, click here.