Since my father passed away, I have grown closer to my father-in-law’s bill. He has a mixture of joy and realism that I admire, and his advice tends to stick.
One of his favourites: “We are all prostitutes when it comes to work.” He comes from an older generation, so here we trade “sex workers” as the appropriate phrase. What he means is that we work primarily for money.
As AI Talent War gets hot, it’s in my heart. Mark Zuckerberg offers over $100 million packages to seduce AI researchers and engineers at Frontier Labs and Big Tech Rivals. Some people rejected it, citing their loyalty to the company’s mission.
“They are trying to buy things they can’t buy, and that’s aligned with the mission,” said Dario Amodei, CEO of Mankind, recently that his top talent remains despite Meta’s offers. According to Wired, staff at Thinking Machines Lab defeated Zuck more than leadership concerns and mission loyalty.
My stepfather will say the phrase, according to Bill’s Gospel, which includes the letters B and S, which is all that is paid.
Business Insider Scoop will back up this up. This week, Charles Rollet reported that Zuck’s recruiting drive created tensions among existing Meta AI experts, and new entrants earning higher wages on new Superintelligence teams. It’s now easier to poach. Xai grabs some and Microsoft has a Meta Talent Wish list. On August 6th, Meta’s top scientist Lawrence van der Marten announced he was participating in humanity.
Reacting with X, former meta-engineering director Erik Meijer wrote: “Every action has a response, and refers to Superintelligence Group.” When asked for comment, he shared a YouTube clip of an experiment in which two monkeys performing the same task were given different rewards. Those who got a very tasty snack threw it back and rocked the cage in anger.
Monkey with a baby monkey. Mladen Antonov/Getty Images
If we are all phoric monkeys and sex workers, what about “mission-driven” people? Possible explanation: Fair.
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Many engineers and researchers acquire inventory at startups, and these awards are usually awarded over several years. If you’re in a hot AI lab, your uninvested equity is probably going to have skyrocketed in value recently or it could be.
For example, humanity could soon be worth $170 billion, up from about $4 billion two years ago. If you have the fairness of that time and you are waiting for it to vest, then there is no way you can leave now.
Not surprising: most people remain humanity. Anyway, until that equity is given the rights.
I would like to hear from AI experts who have received great offers. Do you want to be mission-driven and stay, or do you take $$$ like most of our monkeys? Please let us know: abarr@businessinsider.com.
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