How Much Do OpenAI Employees Make? Salaries Revealed

Federal filings reveal that OpenAI pays prime greenback for expertise. The AI big compensates analysis scientists on its technical workers 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 employees. The ensuing knowledge, considered by Enterprise Insider, reveals 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 staff on H-1B visas, or visas for international employees with specialised expertise. In September, the Trump administration imposed a $100,000 price for each new H-1B visa utility filed within the U.S.

Regardless of this new price, BI reported that OpenAI onboarded over 60 new H-1B employees from October to December 2025. Final yr, as an entire, the AI firm filed over 160 new H-1B purposes, per BI. 

The pay knowledge reveals that OpenAI staff are among the many best-compensated employees in Silicon Valley — maybe as a consequence of aggressive pressures. Final yr, 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 acquired by H-1B employees at OpenAI, not together with inventory awards or bonuses:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Member of Help and Neighborhood Workers: $180,000 to $235,000

OpenAI’s excessive degree of pay displays how aggressively the corporate remains to be competing for AI expertise, even because it talks publicly about mitigating headcount development. Earlier this yr, 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 rather more with fewer individuals.” 

OpenAI is, nevertheless, nonetheless increasing its workforce — and paying its 4,000 employees properly. The Wall Road Journal reported final yr that OpenAI staff 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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