AMD CEO Lisa Su on attracting AI talent without massive pay
In the escalating global battle for top artificial intelligence talent, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su has firmly stated her company will not emulate the “billion-dollar pay package” approach reportedly pursued by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Su posits that financial incentives, while a factor, are “not necessarily the most important thing when you’re attracting talent,” signaling a distinct philosophical divergence in a highly competitive landscape.
This stance comes amidst widespread reports of Meta’s aggressive recruitment tactics, where the social media giant has made headlines for offering astonishing compensation packages to lure elite AI researchers. Meta has reportedly extended offers ranging from $1 million to $1.4 million in annual earnings, with some signing bonuses reaching up to $100 million. In more extreme cases, offers for top AI experts, such as Andrew Tulloch, have reportedly soared to $1.5 billion over several years, though such offers have not always been accepted. While Meta has successfully brought in high-profile talent, including former Apple AI manager Ruoming Pang with a reported $200 million package, the strategy has faced challenges. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman notably suggested that despite “giant offers,” Meta had not secured “none of our best people,” indicating that factors beyond pure financial gain often weigh heavily for top-tier professionals. Indeed, the entire 50-member team at Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab reportedly rejected Meta’s multi-million and even billion-dollar offers, prioritizing scientific freedom and autonomy.
In contrast, Dr. Su’s vision for AMD’s AI talent acquisition centers on a more holistic strategy. Under her leadership, AMD has seen significant organic growth, expanding its workforce from approximately 8,000 to over 25,000 individuals. Beyond internal expansion, strategic mergers and acquisitions have been a cornerstone of AMD’s approach, enabling the company to integrate both valuable intellectual property and exceptional talent. Notable acquisitions include Xilinx, Pensando, AI and cloud computing data center equipment maker ZT Systems, and Europe’s largest AI lab, Silo AI, all bolstering AMD’s position in the AI ecosystem.
Su emphasizes that AMD seeks “great thinkers” and “great problem solvers” who are motivated to build long-term careers and embrace continuous learning, rather than merely filling a specific skill gap. The company’s compelling offering for AI professionals is rooted in its commitment to innovation and its “end-to-end AI” strategy, which integrates AI across its entire product portfolio, from cloud and data centers to edge and client devices. AMD has poured substantial resources into developing cutting-edge AI hardware, including its Instinct GPUs, EPYC CPUs, and Pensando network cards, alongside its robust open software ecosystem, ROCm 7. This focus on providing state-of-the-art tools and a collaborative, open environment can be a powerful draw for engineers and researchers who prioritize impactful work and technological advancement. Furthermore, Dr. Su champions diversity of perspective and actively advocates for creating opportunities for women in the technology sector.
The broader AI talent war has seen skyrocketing salaries and intense competition across the tech industry, leading some companies to form specialized AI “peer groups” to benchmark compensation. However, for many smaller firms and even larger ones like AMD, the emphasis is shifting beyond just salary. Factors such as generous equity, a healthy work-life balance, and the unique opportunity to tackle novel, challenging problems are increasingly critical in attracting and retaining top AI minds. AMD’s strategy, under Dr. Su, appears to lean into these qualitative aspects, offering a compelling alternative to the purely financially driven recruitment models seen elsewhere.