OpenAI will undergo a rare, company-wide shutdown next week to give employees a break after months of intense work schedules, multiple sources told Wired. The move comes as the company contends with mounting internal fatigue and aggressive poaching efforts by Meta, which has reportedly offered $100 million signing bonuses to top AI researchers.
Employees have been working as much as 80 hours per week as OpenAI pushes toward its goal of building artificial general intelligence (AGI). Only top executives will remain on duty during the break, according to insiders.
Meta Targets Exhausted Researchers During Break
In an internal Slack message viewed by Wired, OpenAI Chief Research Officer Mark Chen warned staff that Meta could use the pause to sway researchers into leaving. "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.
The warning follows Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s successful recruitment of seven OpenAI researchers in recent weeks, including prominent contributors to reasoning and superintelligence models. Among those who have joined Meta’s AI lab are Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, Xiaohua Zhai, and Trapit Bansal, the latter of whom helped build OpenAI’s foundational 01 model.
Leadership Scrambles to Retain Talent
In response to the departures and recruitment pressure, OpenAI is “recalibrating compensation” and looking for “creative ways to recognize and reward top talent,” Chen told staff. The leadership team is re-evaluating retention strategies to prevent further erosion of its talent base.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged Meta's lucrative offers, confirming that some employees were approached with signing bonuses exceeding $100 million. However, he dismissed the broader narrative as exaggerated, calling those reports “fake news” and insisting that “none of our best people have taken them up on that.”
Altman emphasized that OpenAI’s edge lies in its innovative culture and mission-driven focus. The company now plans to pivot away from frequent product launches and instead prioritize long-term AGI development.
Unusual Pause in a High-Stakes Race
Company-wide breaks are rare at OpenAI, which is known for its demanding pace and all-hands-on-deck approach. The shutdown reflects both the physical toll on its workforce and the strategic pressures the company faces as rivals like Meta invest heavily in building competing superintelligence teams.
As the AI arms race intensifies, OpenAI’s leadership hopes that next week's pause will offer staff a chance to reset, even as the company itself confronts some of its most critical talent and strategic challenges to date.
