Asked about how to credibly recruit researchers, Elon Musk commits in writing that he will personally cover 'whatever is needed,' with the figure put at not 'materially less than' a billion dollars.
Elon,
We need to be able to credibly tell senior researchers that we will pay them market. DeepMind is offering compensation packages in the $1.5–2M range for senior people.
If we want to be competitive we need to be able to make these offers without flinching. This is not a small commitment.
Ilya
We need to do what it takes to get the top talent. Happy to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
I will cover whatever is needed to make OpenAI a top-tier lab. I would like the budget for OpenAI to not be materially less than a billion dollars over the next several years.
Don't lose to DeepMind on offers because of comp.
Elon