Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is reportedly ramping up its battle for artificial intelligence supremacy by aggressively targeting top AI talent from Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), offering multimillion-dollar pay packages to secure key engineers and researchers amid a massive industry spending spree.
Microsoft's Aggressive AI Hiring To Secure Market Lead
According to internal documents obtained by Business Insider, Microsoft has identified its most-wanted Meta AI engineers and is implementing a new, highly competitive hiring process.
This initiative aims to match Meta's lucrative compensation packages, including multimillion-dollar signing bonuses, to attract and retain elite AI talent.
The tech giant's AI divisions, including Microsoft AI, led by former Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and CoreAI, overseen by ex-Meta engineering head Jay Parikh, are spearheading this recruiting effort.
A spreadsheet circulated among Microsoft hiring managers highlights targeted teams such as Reality Labs, GenAI Infrastructure and Meta AI Research, the report said.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments.
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Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft's High-Stakes Pay Battles And Talent Wars
Meta has set a high bar in this escalating competition, reportedly offering pay packages reaching as high as $250 million for some AI researchers, the report said.
Previously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also noted Meta's billion-dollar signing bonuses for his engineers.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's internal pay guidelines show top compensation packages with salaries exceeding $400,000 and stock awards worth millions, with even higher offers possible for exceptional talent in competitive situations.
These aggressive recruitment moves coincide with Microsoft's reported global layoffs of 9,000 employees, reflecting a shift to prioritize AI investments over other areas.
AI Spending Hits Record $240 Billion
The talent battle unfolds as Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and other tech giants pour unprecedented capital into AI infrastructure.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called this surge a "watershed moment" for technology, with combined spending estimated at $240 billion through 2025 and 2026.
In July, Microsoft posted fourth-quarter revenue of $76.44 billion, marking a 17% increase from the previous year and surpassing the Street consensus estimate of $73.80 billion.
During the same month, Meta reported second-quarter revenue of $47.52 billion, topping analyst expectations of $44.58 billion.
Microsoft currently has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, while Meta's at $1.98 trillion.
Price Action: On Tuesday, Microsoft shares rose 1.40% while Meta climbed 3.15%, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MSFT has maintained a downward trend across the short, medium and long term. Further performance details are available here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
