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Meta hired three researchers from OpenAI’s Zurich office—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai—about a week after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta had failed to recruit OpenAI’s “best people” with offers he described as including $100 million signing bonuses. The hires challenged the impression that Meta’s recruiting effort had come up empty. They do not establish that the researchers were the people Altman meant, or that any of them received a $100 million bonus.
What happened
Meta recruited Beyer, Kolesnikov and Zhai from OpenAI’s Zurich office for its effort to build “superintelligence,” according to TechCrunch’s report on the hires and coverage of the Wall Street Journal report. OpenAI confirmed the three had left, and Beyer publicly confirmed that the group was joining Meta, as noted in Techmeme’s June 26 source roundup.
The timing made the move newsworthy: reports of the hires surfaced on June 25–26, 2025, after Altman’s comments were reported on June 17–18. The contrast is real, but narrower than a claim that Altman was conclusively proved wrong.
What Altman said—and what the hires do and do not contradict
Altman said Meta had approached OpenAI staff with unusually large offers, describing signing bonuses of as much as $100 million and total annual compensation above that amount. He also said none of OpenAI’s “best people” had accepted. Those remarks were reported by TechCrunch and the BBC.
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The three departures show that Meta did recruit OpenAI researchers. But Altman did not say no OpenAI employee would ever leave; his narrower claim concerned the “best people.” Public reporting does not establish whether he considered Beyer, Kolesnikov or Zhai part of that group. Their move therefore undercuts the broad impression that Meta’s recruiting drive had failed, without resolving Altman’s ranking of them.
Who the researchers are
The trio had previously worked together at Google DeepMind and were associated with OpenAI’s Zurich operation, according to the report on their move. A group transfer can give a new employer colleagues who already know how to work together, rather than a single hire who must build new working relationships from scratch.
That context makes the departure notable, but it does not establish the researchers’ precise seniority, individual contributions, or indispensability to OpenAI. Their titles and responsibilities at Meta were not publicly specified in the cited coverage.
Was the compensation really $100 million?
The public record does not show that these three researchers received $100 million each—or that any received a $100 million signing bonus. Altman’s figure was a claim about offers to some OpenAI employees, not a disclosed contract for this trio.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteMeta CTO Andrew Bosworth disputed Altman’s characterization, and Beyer said the $100 million signing-bonus figure was false. TechCrunch’s follow-up reported both the disagreement and that Meta was offering multimillion-dollar compensation packages, while noting that terms for these researchers were not verified. A potential multiyear package, an annual compensation figure and an upfront signing bonus are not interchangeable: the first may include future or conditional value, while the last refers to an initial payment. No contract terms for the trio were made public.
Bosworth reportedly called Altman “dishonest” at an internal Meta meeting. That is Meta’s side of a disputed account, not an independently established finding. The available reporting supports the existence of a public disagreement over how Meta’s offers were described, not a definitive account of the three researchers’ compensation.
Why Meta wanted the researchers
The hires were reported as part of Meta’s push to build a team focused on “superintelligence”—an ambition for AI systems that broadly exceed human capabilities, not a demonstrated product or technical milestone. Mark Zuckerberg was personally involved in the broader effort, according to coverage of the recruitment.
The hiring campaign came amid concern about Meta’s position in the AI race, including a reported lukewarm reception to Llama 4. That context helps explain the urgency of recruiting, but hiring experienced researchers is evidence of strategic intent, not proof that Meta had built superior systems or was close to achieving superintelligence.
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What the move means for each company
For Meta
- It added researchers with experience at both DeepMind and OpenAI, including a group with prior working relationships.
- The hires showed that Meta’s recruiting campaign could produce visible departures from a major rival.
- The move does not establish the trio’s new responsibilities, guarantee research results, or transfer OpenAI’s confidential code, model weights or trade secrets.
For OpenAI
- The departures mean OpenAI lost experienced researchers and some institutional knowledge, though the scale of any operational impact has not been publicly established.
- The timing created a reputational complication after Altman had publicly expressed confidence that Meta had not persuaded OpenAI’s best people to move.
- Three departures do not by themselves demonstrate a broader exodus or measurable damage to OpenAI’s research output; the company can reorganize or replace staff.
Does “poaching” mean Meta acted illegally?
In this coverage, “poaching” is shorthand for aggressively recruiting a competitor’s employees. It is not a legal finding. The cited reports describe Meta hiring the researchers; they do not report a ruling that Meta unlawfully induced a contract breach. The trio’s earlier move from DeepMind to OpenAI also illustrates how researchers can circulate among leading AI labs.
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What remains unknown
- The researchers’ exact compensation, including whether any received an upfront signing bonus.
- Their specific titles, reporting lines and responsibilities at Meta.
- Whether other OpenAI employees were part of a wider team move.
- How much the departures affected OpenAI’s research work, or whether Meta’s new effort will produce better systems.
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