Meta just snatched seven OpenAI employees in seven days—including top researcher Yu Jia Hui—sparking a public jab from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. On his brother’s podcast, Altman quipped: "I’m glad our best people haven’t taken their offers... so far."

Sources say Meta dangled signing bonuses up to $100 million for key hires. Altman’s sarcasm didn’t slow Meta’s hiring spree: six others joined this week to boost its "super-smart AI team."

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth fired back, calling the payouts "market-driven" in a staff meeting. He confirmed OpenAI now counters with rival offers as AI talent grows scarcer.

Meanwhile, Meta dropped $14 billion on AI startup Scale and hired its founder, Alexandr Wang—signaling Zuckerberg’s spending spree is far from over.

The takeaway? This isn’t just paychecks clashing. It’s a bare-knuckle fight over who leads AI’s future.