The battle for talent in artificial intelligence has reached a new level in Silicon Valley. What many already describe as a “corporate assault,” startup xAI by Elon Musk has recruited at least 14 researchers and scientists from Meta since January 2025.
A steady leak of departures that worries Meta
The names speak for themselves: Xinlei Chen, an expert in multimodal AI at Meta FAIR; Ching-Yao Chuang, specialized in computer vision; Alan Rice, a former manager of critical data centers; or Sheng Sen, one of the researchers behind the scalability of LLaMA models. All have chosen to leave Meta’s security and resources to join xAI, a company with barely 1,200 employees.
The exodus has been so significant that, according to industry sources, Mark Zuckerberg even offered packages of up to $250 million per engineer to try to retain his top talent, including bonuses of $100 million, direct access to the CEO, and unlimited resources. Yet, money was not enough.
“Many Meta engineers are joining xAI without the need for insane initial compensation. The difference is that xAI has a much higher market growth potential than Meta. Plus, we are hyper meritocratic: do something great, and your compensation can grow substantially.”
Many strong Meta engineers have and are joining xAI and without the need for insane initial comp (still great, but not unsustainably high).
Also, xAI has vastly more market cap growth potential than Meta.
And we are hyper merit-based: do something great and your comp can shift…
The message resonates with the narrative Musk has supported in his other companies: beyond compensation, he offers speed, impact, and vision. While Meta’s product development can take months to approve, internal sources say that at xAI, an idea can turn into a product within weeks.
Meta invests, but doesn’t captivate
Meta isn’t standing still. The company will allocate this year $70 billion to AI, including the acquisition of Alexandr Wang’s startup for $14.3 billion, to strengthen its team. Yet, the brain drain continues.
Elon Musk Strikes at Meta: AI Engineer Exodus to xAI Puts Zuckerberg in Check 4
The contrast is clear: while Meta pursues commercial supremacy with its superintelligence division, Musk advocates that xAI works to “maximize the search for truth” and build a general AI (AGI) with an impact on all of humanity.
A domino effect in the industry
Musk’s move not only weakens Meta but also pressures other giants. Microsoft has started matching lucrative retention offers, Google has responded by acquiring entire startups, and OpenAI talks about “professional-level compensation” to retain its talent.
However, Musk has a secret weapon: he recruits talent from his own companies. More than 40 former engineers from Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink already work at xAI. Among them is Daniel Rowland, who led Tesla’s supercomputer Dojo and now heads the Colossus project, xAI’s future flagship data center.
Musk’s advantage
Elon Musk has built a track record of companies that have transformed industries: from PayPal to Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, generating an estimated value of $1.2 trillion. This credibility now serves as his best recruitment tool.
In a market where AI engineers are scarce and highly contested, experts agree: the race to AI leadership could be decided in the coming months, and Musk, at least for now, is ahead.
FAQs about the xAI vs Meta showdown
How many engineers has Meta lost to xAI? At least 14 researchers and scientists since January 2025, including experts in multimodality, vision, and large language models.
Why do they prefer xAI if Meta offers more money? Because at xAI they find speed of execution, less bureaucracy, and a more inspiring mission than mere commercial dominance.
What does Elon Musk promise to engineers? Musk offers a meritocratic model with growth potential in compensation, along with participation in projects that could shape the future of AGI.
How does this affect the future of AI? The talent drain erodes Meta’s leadership and boosts xAI at a critical moment. Whoever manages to gather and retain the best talent could make a difference in the race toward advanced AI.
