ChatGPT caught by regulators I was surprised when it sparked a new AI race. As companies rush to develop and release ever more powerful models, lawmakers and regulators around the world have sought to slow development and catch up.
Regulators around the world are rushing to hire AI experts as governments launch new AI programs. But some job ads are raising eyebrows and even laughing among AI researchers and engineers for offering wages that look pitiful in the midst of the current AI boom.
The European AI Office, which is central to implementing the EU's AI law, listed vacancies earlier this month and is asking applicants to start work in the autumn. Among them is a job offer for a technology specialist in AI with a master's degree in computer science or engineering and at least one year of experience, with an annual salary of 47,320 euros (51,730 euros) at seniority level. USD).
Across La Manche, the UK government's Department of Science, Innovation and Technology is also looking for AI experts. One of the positions available is Head of International AI Safety Reporting, which will help lead the ground-breaking global report that stemmed from last year's World AI Safety Summit in the UK. The ad states that “his cutting-edge AI safety expertise and/or demonstrated experience in rapidly upskilling in complex new policy areas” are essential. The proposed salary is 64,660 pounds (approximately $82,730) per year.
Although the EU list does not include taxes, salaries are much lower than the eye-watering amounts offered within the industry. Levels.fyi, which compiles verified technology industry compensation data, reports that the median total compensation for OpenAI employees is $560,000, including stock grants, which are common in the technology industry. The minimum salary of a recruiter confirmed by the ChatGPT maker is he $190,000.
OpenAI's Amazon-backed rival Anthropic (developers of the chatbot Claude) has a median fee of $212,500, which is still far above what regulators are currently offering. According to Levels.fyi, the bottom 25th percentile for machine learning and AI jobs is $172,500. Stock subsidies included in compensation packages in the tech industry can result in huge profits if a company's value rises. OpenAI is currently valued at $80 billion following a February 2024 tender offer. of new york times.
“There's a brain drain in every government in the world,” said the co-founder and CEO of FairComp, a company that tracks pay data and helps workers negotiate better wages. CEO Nolan Church says: “One reason for this is that private companies not only offer better working conditions, but also significantly higher salaries.”
Church is concerned that competition between private companies will further widen the gap between the private and public sectors. “Personally, I believe that governments should attract the best talent,” he says. “But how do you convince your best talent to take a significant pay cut?”
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While it is not new that government jobs pay significantly less than industrial jobs, the disconnect is potentially more significant and urgent in the current AI boom. Tech companies and companies in other industries are rushing to adopt this technology, creating fierce competition for AI-savvy talent. The rapid pace of development in AI means regulators need to act quickly.
Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, posted on X that the EU AI Office's salary offer compares unfavorably to an internship in the tech industry. “I appreciate that governments are working within their own constraints, but if they want to implement ambitious regulations for AI, they need to pay wages accordingly,” he wrote. “We don’t need to compete with the industry, but we definitely need to be in the fundamental space.”