OpenAI is scrambling to retain talent after Meta reportedly lured away eight senior researchers in a Silicon Valley brain drain standoff.

Chief Research Officer Mark Chen likened the situation to a break-in, expressing outrage in an internal memo leaked to Wired.

In a desperate bid to stop the bleeding, OpenAI executives are reportedly recalibrating compensation and offering “creative” rewards to keep staff from jumping ship.

CEO Sam Altman recently complained about Meta dangling $100 million signing bonuses, a claim Meta has internally denied but which sparked renewed panic at OpenAI.

Leadership says it’s working overtime to plug the talent leak and reassert its dominance in AI before the house gets looted even further.