As part of its new superintelligence lab endeavor, Meta is undoubtedly not afraid to provide generous, multimillion-dollar invitation packages to prospective AI researchers. However, rumors of a $100 million "welcome bonus" are not exactly correct, according to insights from a successfully recruited researcher and details divulged in a confidential company meeting.

At an internal assembly on Thursday, the details of which were exposed by The Verge, key figures in Meta were probed about the enticing offers OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, claims Meta has been making to top researchers.

Meta's CTO, Andrew Bosworth, hinted that such extensive sums may have been proposed to a select few for highly authoritative leadership roles. He clarified, however, that "the exact terms of the offer” weren't a "sign-up bonus” but a mix of other benefits. It's not a huge immediate influx of money, he emphasized. It’s not unusual for tech companies to dole out substantial parts of their salaries to top-tier leaders through restricted stock unit (RSU) grants, contingent on either time served or performance evaluation.

Meta's idea of a total $100 million employee remuneration over four years isn't too far-fetched, especially for someone at a high leadership level. In fact, many of Meta’s significant staff members, including Bosworth, have consistently pocketed between $20 million and $24 million annually for several years.

Altman's insinuation that these extravagant offers are becoming the norm for Meta was dismissed by Bosworth during the meeting. Bosworth retorted: "Sure, the talent market is sizzling, but it's not that sizzling." (Meta hasn't responded to our solicitation for a statement yet.)

On the same day, AI researcher Lucas Beyer revealed he was leaving OpenAI to join Meta, in the company of two other leading figures from OpenAI's Zurich branch. He dismissed rumors of the $100 million bonus saying: “1) yes, we will be joining Meta. 2) no, we did not get 100M sign-on, that’s fake new."

Beyer's proficiency in computer vision AI syncs with Meta's aims of advancing in entertainment AI, rather than work-related AI, a point purported by Bosworth in the meeting. Meta has already gained ground in this field with its Quest VR headsets and the AI glasses from Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Even though Meta isn't generously distributing $100 million packages, it's certainly not stingy when trying to draft in the big players in the AI arena. Instinct suggests that the prospective recruits are worth the financial commitment in this intensely competitive AI talent industry.

Impressively, Meta has managed to onboard OpenAI's Trapit Bansal, known for his innovative work on AI reasoning models.

It’s also highly likely that Alexandr Wang, Scale's CEO and co-founder, received a handsome sum, potentially upwards of $100 million, in the light of Meta’s agreement to acquire a 49% stake in Scale. A part of the $14 billion being disbursed by Meta is heading to shareholders in the form of a cash dividend. Given Wang’s significant stake in Scale, he is very likely entitled to a sizeable share of this dividend.

Still, despite not dispensing $100 million quite so freely, it's clear that Meta is willing to shell out significant amounts in recruiting AI expertise.

An investor disclosed to TechCrunch that he had witnessed an AI researcher declining an $18 million job proposal from Meta, but took up a lesser yet still impressive offer from a promising AI startup: Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab.