Mark's billion-dollar AI hiring spree sparks employee outrage at Meta
Meta (yep, Facebook's parent company) is facing some serious internal tension over how it's hiring for its AI teams.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been offering huge paychecks to new hires—like the headline-grabbing $1 billion attempt to bring in ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati—which hasn't gone over well with existing staff.
Many feel overlooked and frustrated, wondering if their work still matters.
Meanwhile, Meta's AI models are lagging behind the competition
Even with Meta pouring more than $10 billion a year into AI, its models like Llama 4 are still trailing behind rivals like OpenAI's GPT-5.
The company has snapped up big names such as Shengjia Zhao and Alexandr Wang, but some insiders quietly question if Meta's high-priced hiring strategy is worth it.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg's focus on building a small "elite" team has left longtime employees feeling uncertain about where they stand as Meta tries to catch up in the AI race.