How Much Do OpenAI Employees Make? Salaries Revealed

Federal filings reveal that OpenAI pays high greenback for expertise. The AI big compensates analysis scientists on its technical employees by over half one million {dollars} in base wage, not together with inventory awards or bonuses. 

The ChatGPT-maker doesn’t publicly disclose wage knowledge, however it’s required to submit federal filings with wage figures when hiring international staff. The ensuing knowledge, considered by Enterprise Insider, exhibits that OpenAI pays engineering roles within the mid-six figures, whereas analysis scientists command salaries from $245,000 to $685,000.

The federal filings outcome from OpenAI hiring workers on H-1B visas, or visas for international staff with specialised expertise. In September, the Trump administration imposed a $100,000 charge for each new H-1B visa utility filed within the U.S.

Regardless of this new charge, BI reported that OpenAI onboarded over 60 new H-1B staff from October to December 2025. Final 12 months, as an entire, the AI firm filed over 160 new H-1B functions, per BI. 

The pay knowledge reveals that OpenAI workers are among the many best-compensated staff in Silicon Valley — maybe because of aggressive pressures. Final 12 months, the corporate stated it was “recalibrating” pay in response to Meta poaching expertise from their firm. 

Right here’s a snapshot of the bottom wage obtained by H-1B staff at OpenAI, not together with inventory awards or bonuses:

Member of Intelligence & Investigations Employees: $320,000 to $382,500​

Member of Technical Employees (AI Techniques Engineer): $245,000 to $460,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Analysis & AI Techniques): $310,000 to $460,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Analysis Engineer): $210,000 to $460,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Analysis Scientist): $245,000 to $685,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Knowledge Science): $255,000 to $490,000​

Member of Technical Employees ({Hardware} Engineer): $250,000 to $555,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Safety Engineer): $310,000 to $325,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Software program Developer): $325,000​

Member of Technical Employees (Software program Engineer): $170,000 to $490,000

Member of Design Employees: $245,000 to $310,000​

Member of Product Employees (Product Administration): $210,000 to $325,000​

Member of Program Employees: $150,000 to $355,000​

Member of Finance Employees: $240,000 to $260,000​

Member of Assist and Neighborhood Employees: $180,000 to $235,000

OpenAI’s excessive degree of pay displays how aggressively the corporate continues to be competing for AI expertise, even because it talks publicly about mitigating headcount progress. Earlier this 12 months, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in a city corridor occasion that the startup would decelerate its hiring tempo as a result of he believed AI would enable the corporate “to take action far more with fewer individuals.” 

OpenAI is, nonetheless, nonetheless increasing its workforce — and paying its 4,000 staff properly. The Wall Avenue Journal reported final 12 months that OpenAI workers obtain a median of $1.5 million in inventory awards every year, greater than any tech startup in current historical past. 

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