OpenAI is temporarily closing its operations for one week starting early July 2025. This rare break is meant to help employees recover after months of intense work, with some staff working up to 80 hours a week. Only top executives will keep working during this shutdown.
The move comes as OpenAI faces strong competition from Meta, which is aggressively recruiting OpenAI’s top researchers with huge salary offers, including signing bonuses reportedly reaching $100 million. Meta has already hired around seven key OpenAI scientists recently, including experts who helped build important AI models.
OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer Mark Chen warned employees in an internal message that Meta might try to pressure them during this downtime to make quick decisions about job offers. Chen said, “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.”
To fight this talent drain, OpenAI is rethinking its pay and benefits. Chen said the company is “recalibrating compensation” and looking for creative ways to reward and keep its best staff. CEO Sam Altman also emphasized that despite Meta’s big offers, OpenAI’s top people remain loyal because of the company’s mission and innovation.
This shutdown shows OpenAI’s effort to support employee wellbeing while trying to hold onto talent in a fierce AI race. Meanwhile, Meta’s big spending on AI researchers signals that the competition for the best minds in artificial intelligence is only getting tougher.
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