Posted 9/12/2023, 5:44:00 AM

Musk Sparks AI Talent War, Poaching Top Google Scientist with $1.9M Salary Offer

Musk poached a top Google AI scientist in 2015 and started OpenAI with them, offering a $1.9 million salary.
Musk justified the poaching to then-Google CEO Larry Page by criticizing Page's dismissal of AI safety concerns.
Page felt betrayed and refused to associate with Musk afterwards.
Musk and the poached scientist disagreed over making AI systems open source versus closed source.
Competition for top AI talent has intensified recently, with salaries up to $300k; Musk again poached from Google and OpenAI for his new AI startup.

businessinsider.com

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