Meta is paying top-tier salaries to attract and retain technology talent, especially in artificial intelligence (AI), software engineering, and research roles, according to newly released data from U.S. government filings.
The figures come from Meta’s H-1B visa filings for the first quarter of 2025, required when companies hire specialized foreign workers. These disclosures provide a rare glimpse into salary ranges at one of Silicon Valley’s leading tech giants during a fiercely competitive period for AI professionals.
Key salary highlights include:
- Software engineers can earn up to $480,000 per year in base salary.
- Machine learning engineers receive between $165,000 and $440,000.
- AI research scientists earn between $179,000 and $232,000, with some research roles reaching up to $321,000.
- Data scientists have salaries ranging up to $270,000, while data science managers can make as much as $300,000.
- Product managers at Meta earn up to $314,000.
- UX researchers receive salaries up to $350,000.
These numbers represent base salaries only, excluding stock options, signing bonuses, and other perks that can significantly increase total compensation.
Meta is actively competing for AI talent amid an industry-wide surge in investment. The company is reportedly offering some AI researchers compensation packages worth up to $300 million over four years to build its new Superintelligence lab.
This intense talent battle is not limited to Meta. Startups like Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, reportedly pay technical staff salaries up to $500,000 despite being pre-launch.
Meta declined to comment on the filings.
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