Company-wide break comes as Meta aggressively targets OpenAI staff with massive offers; internal memo warns of “pressure tactics” during downtime
OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is implementing an unprecedented company-wide shutdown next week to allow its exhausted workforce a chance to recover after months of 80-hour workweeks, multiple sources confirmed to Wired.
While the move is officially framed as a mental health break, the timing underscores growing concerns within the company about a high-stakes talent war, especially as Meta aggressively attempts to poach top researchers, News.Az reports, citing Timesofindia.com.
According to insiders, only OpenAI executives will continue working during the one-week pause, a rare move for a company operating at the forefront of the artificial general intelligence (AGI) race. The break comes at a sensitive time. Meta has reportedly offered OpenAI staff eye-watering compensation packages, with some signing bonuses surpassing $100 million. OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer Mark Chen issued a stark warning to employees in a recent internal Slack memo, cautioning that Meta would likely exploit the shutdown to pressure researchers into quick, isolated decisions. “Meta knows we're taking this week to recharge and will take advantage of it to try and pressure you to make decisions fast and in isolation,” Chen wrote, according to Wired.
Meta’s efforts are already paying off. In the past few weeks, it has successfully recruited seven OpenAI researchers, including key contributors to the company’s reasoning and superintelligence models. Among them are Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, Xiaohua Zhai, and Trapit Bansal, developers critical to the early o1 model that powers much of OpenAI’s infrastructure.
Faced with this brain drain, OpenAI leadership is taking urgent steps to retain its core talent. In the same internal communication, Chen said the company is “recalibrating compensation” and exploring “creative ways to recognize and reward top talent.”
The announcement follows comments by CEO Sam Altman, who downplayed the impact of Meta’s poaching attempts. “None of our best people have decided to take them up on that,” Altman said, attributing retention to OpenAI’s core mission and culture of innovation.
Still, insiders note that the company’s intense work pace has taken a toll on morale. The temporary shutdown, while welcome, highlights deeper challenges in balancing its AGI ambitions with employee sustainability.
The break also signals a possible strategic shift for OpenAI, as it moves away from a rapid-fire product release model to focus more squarely on long-term AGI development. The internal memo described the decision to pause operations as a “reset” amid intensifying competition and internal restructuring.
With Meta scaling up its own superintelligence lab and offering once-unimaginable compensation packages, the battle for AI talent is escalating into a defining challenge for the sector’s biggest players.
