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The AI hiring race is getting more intense. New reports say that some researchers at Anthropic now earn more than $1 million a year. The pay includes salary, company stock, and other benefits. The massive numbers have caught the attention of the entire tech industry.
The report comes at a time when many technology companies are trying to build stronger AI products. Good AI researchers are in short supply, and companies are ready to spend big to hire them. So, pay packages are reaching once-rare levels, even in Silicon Valley.
The reported salary statement of Anthropic didn’t come from any leaks or unverified sources. Instead, the news arrived from 80 H-1B visa filings. It shows the company has been paying high salaries to non-US employees whom it hired during the first two fiscal years of 2026.
Although no names are listed, the filing shows that the company offers annual base salaries of $1.12 million and $1.38 million to two Members of Technical Staff. The most interesting part is that these are the base pay, which excludes bonuses and stock awards. Hence, the total pay these two employees have been receiving is beyond imagination for most others.
Anthropic's reported pay shows how much the industry values experienced employees. The company is said to offer some of the biggest compensation packages in tech. In many cases, stock awards make the total package much larger than the base salary.
This is changing how big tech companies hire. AI experts are now among the highest-paid people in the industry. Companies believe the right team can help them build better AI products faster than their rivals.
There is another side to the story. While a small group of technical staff is receiving huge offers, thousands of other tech workers have lost their jobs. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, and Intel have all announced layoffs as they shift more money toward AI.
This has created a clear gap in the industry. Many software engineers and support staff are facing fewer opportunities. At the same time, top AI researchers are more in demand than ever.
The contrast shows how quickly hiring priorities have changed. Companies are cutting costs in some areas while spending heavily in others.
Also Read: Cloudflare to Layoff 1,100 Employees as CEO Says Job Cuts are Linked to AI, Not Weak Business
Money is only part of the competition. Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and xAI are all chasing the same small group of AI experts. Along with high salaries, companies are offering signing bonuses, large stock grants, flexible work options, and direct hiring efforts to attract top talent.
As AI becomes more important, this battle is only expected to grow. The companies may be competing with one another, but the biggest winners right now are the researchers at the center of the race.
