OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, will give regular bonus payments to around 1,000 employees, roughly one-third of its full-time staff, as it rolls out its latest AI model, GPT-5.
The move was announced by CEO Sam Altman in a message to staff on Slack, a day before the model’s launch. The bonuses, which will continue for two years, are aimed at researchers and software engineers working in applied engineering, scaling, and safety.
The size of the payments will vary depending on role and experience. Top researchers will receive several million dollars over the period, while engineers will be awarded hundreds of thousands. Staff can choose to take the bonus in cash, company stock, or a mix of both.
According to the media reports Altman said the decision was influenced by changes in the job market and the growing competition for AI specialists. “We’ve been reviewing pay for our technical teams given how the market is shifting,” he told staff, according to The Verge. He added that pay could continue to rise as the company grows, but wanted to be open about this new approach.
The battle for talent in Silicon Valley is intensifying, with major tech firms and well-funded start-ups offering attractive pay to lure skilled workers. OpenAI has recently lost some researchers to Meta, while Elon Musk’s xAI is also recruiting in the same space.
India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market after the United States, and Altman has suggested it could soon overtake the US.
GPT-5 is now available to all ChatGPT users. Plus subscribers will get higher usage limits, while Pro subscribers will have access to GPT-5 Pro, a version designed for more complex tasks with extended reasoning. The company describes GPT-5 as a unified system combining a fast, efficient model for most queries, a deeper “thinking” model for difficult problems, and a real-time decision tool that selects the right approach based on the type of conversation.
