OpenAI and Anthropic are luring top AI talent from Meta

Despite offering compensation packages exceeding $2 million, Meta is losing AI talent to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic, according to VC Deedy Das. Anthropic in particular is attracting engineers from DeepMind, Hugging Face, and top tech firms, while only losing a fraction in return. The company’s appeal lies not just in pay, but in a culture that favors autonomy, flexible work, and intellectual freedom. It also boasts the highest two-year retention rate among AI labs, surpassing even DeepMind. As traditional tech giants shed workers and AI investment ramps up, startups are becoming the new dream jobs for top engineers.