Million-dollar salaries: Top AI talent tech giants are fighting over

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · May 21, 2026 · 1398 words · By Quirino Mealha

AGI Development Competition Economic Valuation of Intellectual Capital AI Talent War

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What to know about AGI Development Competition

As Big Tech and a whole cohort of new-generation AI start-ups race towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), elite researchers and engineering leaders have become the equivalent of franchise athletes.

Claims checked 29

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

2 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The emerging AI industry has created a labour market unlike anything Silicon Valley has seen since the dot-com boom, except this time, there are perhaps only a few hundred people currently capable of building frontier AI systems at scale.

Common ground

OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, xAI, Safe Superintelligence and a new and growing number of AI start-ups are all competing to attract an incredibly small pool of highly skilled talent.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this AGI Development Competition story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that He has reportedly earned specific performance rewards such as a significant $3 million (€2.58m) bonus for his achievements with the Gemini AI project?
How does this story connect AGI Development Competition with Economic Valuation of Intellectual Capital over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/05/21/ai-bidding-wars-the-talent-making-a…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 29 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 19

check_circle Corroborated 8

info Single Source 2

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Claim 1: “He has reportedly earned specific performance rewards such as a significant $3 million (€2.58m) bonus for his achievements with the Gemini AI project.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “the firm... reportedly achieved a valuation exceeding $5 billion (€4.3bn) shortly after launch.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “In 2024, the AlphaFold2 model solved a 50-year-old challenge by accurately predicting the three-dimensional structures of proteins which led to Hassabis being awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “She also previously worked as a senior product manager at Tesla.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “Following OpenAI’s dramatic 2023 governance crisis involving Sam Altman’s temporary removal as CEO, Sutskever eventually departed the company and co-founded Safe Superintelligence (SSI) in 2024.”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by EuroNews and Google Scholar (where he is listed as Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Safe Superintelligence Inc).

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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Kovalchuk (born 1983), Russian ice hockey winger in the KHL, formerly for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, L.A. Kings and Washington Capitals of the NHL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya

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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Sutskever Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Safe Superintelligence Inc Verified email at ssi.inc - Homepage Machine Learning Neural Networks Artificial Intelligence Deep Learning
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x04W_mMAAAAJ&hl=en

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web search NEUTRAL — 129K Followers, 1,387 Following, 686 Posts - Ilya Salmanzadeh (@ilya_music) on Instagram: "Music Producer/Songwriter"
https://www.instagram.com/ilya_music/

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 6: “Alexandr Wang launched Scale AI all the way back in 2016”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 7: “former chief technology officer Mira Murati, who quit the company in 2024.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only the EuroNews cross-reference mentions Mira Murati's departure in 2024; no other independent sources in the provided evidence corroborate this specific detail.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Another major talent to leave OpenAI was former chief technology officer Mira Murati, who quit the company in 2024.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/05/19/ai-bidding-wars…

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Claim 8: “Alexandr Wang was brought into a leadership role within Meta Superintelligence Labs”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “It was later reported that Meta explored acquisition talks involving SSI and aggressively attempted to recruit talent associated with the company during Mark Zuckerberg’s AI hiring push in 2025.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources (CNBC and other news reports) confirm Meta's attempt to acquire SSI and recruit Daniel Gross in 2025.

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web search NEUTRAL — Sources: Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence earlier in 2025; after Ilya Sutskever rebuffed the offer, Zuckerberg moved to recruit SSI CEO Daniel Gross. Meta $META announces plans to reduce a…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brianmcc_sources-meta-tried-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — "Meta tried to buy Safe Superintelligence — and hired CEO Daniel Gross".
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/19/meta-tried-to-buy-safe-super…

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web search NEUTRAL — Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI Inc.) is an Israeli-American artificial intelligence company founded by Ilya Sutskever, the former chief scientist of OpenAI; Daniel Gross, former head of Apple’s AI e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Superintelligence_Inc.

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Claim 10: “Sutskever also confirmed holding a $7 billion (€6bn) stake in OpenAI during his testimony for the high-stakes trial between Elon Musk and the ChatGPT creator”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results specifically report on Ilya Sutskever's testimony regarding his $7 billion stake in the Musk v. OpenAI trial.

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web search NEUTRAL — Elon Musk’s trial against OpenAI and Microsoft entered its final stretch on Monday, with testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and current OpenAI ch…
https://www.wired.com/story/ilya-sutskever-testifies-musk-v-…

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web search NEUTRAL — The OpenAI cofounder testified during the third week of the trial, following OpenAI president Greg Brockman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2026/05/11/ilya-suts…

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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Sutskever Testifies He Holds $7 Billion OpenAI Stake—Second New Billionaire Revealed In Musk-Altman Trial. 8 hours ago. By Alicia Park.
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…

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Claim 11: “In 2025, Meta reportedly acquired a 49% non-voting stake in the firm for $14.3 billion (€12.3bn) valuing it at $29 billion (€25bn).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “Ilya Sutskever is an Israeli-Canadian computer scientist.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web sources, including a 'Facts for Kids' site and general bios, identify him as an Israeli-Canadian computer scientist.

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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Sutskever is a computer scientist who specializes in machine learning. He has made several major contributions to the field of deep learning, including sequence-to-sequence learning, reasoning mo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever

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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Sutskever is a renowned computer scientist known for his groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning.
https://interestingengineering.com/engineers-directory/ilya-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Sutskever is an Israeli-Canadian computer scientist who is an expert in machine learning. He has made important discoveries in the field of deep learning, which is a type of artificial intelligen…
https://kids.kiddle.co/Ilya_Sutskever

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Claim 13: “DeepMind was originally founded in London and acquired by Google in 2014”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 14: “SSI... was privately valued at around $32 billion (€27.5bn) in 2025.”

CORROBORATED

Reported by EuroNews and corroborated by reports citing the Financial Times regarding a $32 billion valuation.

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web search NEUTRAL — Safe Superintelligence Inc. is an Israeli-American artificial intelligence company founded by Ilya Sutskever, the former chief scientist of OpenAI; Daniel Gross, former head of Apple’s AI efforts; and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Superintelligence_Inc.

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web search NEUTRAL — Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the AI startup led by OpenAI’s co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, has raised an additional $2 billion in funding at a $32 billion valuation, according …
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/12/openai-co-founder-ilya-sut…

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web search NEUTRAL — SSI last raised $1bn at a $5bn valuation in September. SSI has set out to create AI models that are dramatically more powerful and more intelligent than current cutting-edge models from rivals such as…
https://www.ft.com/content/792e09b2-f63b-41ac-8be8-e10e75ead…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 15: “Hassabis' estimated net worth is approximately $600 million (€516m).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 16: “Andrej Karpathy rounds off the list as another co-founder of OpenAI.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 17: “Alleged document leaks suggest his compensation is among the largest in Silicon Valley history with a $1 million (€860,000) base salary, multi-million-dollar bonuses and $100 million (€86m) to $150 million (€129m) in equity vesting over five years.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 18: “After leaving OpenAI, Murati launched Thinking Machines Lab”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 19: “OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, xAI, Safe Superintelligence and a new and growing number of AI start-ups are all competing to attract an incredibly small pool of highly skilled talent.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is reported by EuroNews and corroborated by other web search results discussing the competitive landscape for AI talent involving the listed companies.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, xAI, Safe Superintelligence and a new and growing number of AI start-ups are all competing to attract an incredibly small pool of highly skilled talent.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/05/19/ai-bidding-wars…

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web search NEUTRAL — ...start-ups (OpenAI and Anthropic), product-less new ventures (Safe Superintelligence, Thinking Machines Lab), application companies (Cursor, Replit), and, uh, “other” firms (xAI) that are competing …
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/how-meta-became-uniq…

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web search NEUTRAL — The AI revolution is here to stay, says Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. In a probing, live conversation with head of TED Chris Anderson, Altman discusses the ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MWT_doo68k

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 20: “Before OpenAI, he worked at Google Brain, which was the precursor to Google DeepMind”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by EuroNews and a detailed biographical web search result stating he worked at Google Brain before co-founding OpenAI in 2015.

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web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever — who cofounded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015 — played a role in kicking the now-former CEO out of the company. The chief scientist is a member of the board that made the deci…
https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-openai-cofounder-ilya-s…

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web search NEUTRAL — After his PhD, Sutskever worked briefly at Google Brain before joining Sam Altman and Elon Musk to co-found OpenAI in 2015. He became Chief Scientist — the person responsible for the technical directi…
https://www.abhs.in/blog/who-is-ilya-sutskever-openai-safe-s…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 21: “Karpathy's net worth is estimated to be between $50 million (€43m) and $150 million (€129m)”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 22: “president Greg Brockman testified to holding a near $30 billion (€25.8bn) stake.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only the EuroNews cross-reference provides this specific figure; no other independent sources in the provided evidence corroborate the $30 billion figure.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — president Greg Brockman testified to holding a near $30 billion (€25.8bn) stake [in OpenAI].
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/05/19/ai-bidding-wars…

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Claim 23: “reports indicate it was bought for anywhere between $400 million (€344m) and $650 million (€559m)”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 24: “The British engineer of Greek, Cypriot, Chinese and Singaporean descent, spent years building DeepMind”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 25: “The Albanian-American engineer and business executive played a central role during the launches of ChatGPT, DALL-E and GPT-4”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 26: “Karpathy later returned briefly to OpenAI before launching Eureka Labs in 2024.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 27: “the Slovak-Canadian computer researcher moved on to become head of AI at Tesla where he helped lead the development of neural-network-based autonomous driving systems from 2017 to 2022.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 28: “As a co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI, Sutskever helped drive breakthroughs behind GPT models”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by EuroNews, Wikipedia, and other professional bios that he co-founded OpenAI, served as Chief Scientist, and contributed to GPT models.

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web search NEUTRAL — The past year was the first in which general-purpose models became economically useful. GPT-3, in particular, demonstrated that large language...Ilya Sutskever is a co-founder of OpenAI, where he is c…
https://www.deeplearning.ai/the-batch/ilya-sutskever-fusion-…

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web search NEUTRAL — In 2015, Sutskever co-founded OpenAI, an AI research organization, with Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and others. As Chief Scientist, he led research efforts that resulted in significant advancements, includ…
https://interestingengineering.com/engineers-directory/ilya-…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 29: “DeepMind... became famous for breakthroughs including AlphaGo... and AlphaFold”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.