Mira Murati, founder of Thinking Machines Lab, has revealed that her entire 50-member team unanimously turned down lucrative job offers from Meta, including one astounding package worth $1 billion.

This shocking revelation reflects the growing talent war in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.

Researchers at Murati's San Francisco-based AI start-up, Thinking Machines, have been the target of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta's continuous hiring of AI specialists, according to a report by Wired.

Reportedly, the social media giant, which recently merged its AI research activities under Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), made offers between $200 million and $1 billion, with significant amounts linked to stock options, and multi-year vesting schedules.

Not a single employee at her organisation accepted Meta's advances, according to Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of OpenAI, and currently one of the most powerful people in the AI industry, reported The Economic Times.

Although Murati's revelation garnered media attention, Andy Stone, a spokesman for Meta, disputed the stated numbers.

Meta is now gearing up its ambitious AI plans. Under the direction of Nat Friedman and Alexandr Wang, Meta established Superintelligence Labs to accelerate advanced AI. Sam Altman of OpenAI claims that Meta offered nine-figure contracts to steal talent amid intense competition.

Although the tech community has been captivated by the story, it is still unclear if Murati's action was motivated just by altruism, or if it was part of a larger brand positioning strategy.

With the AI sector being criticised for unethical behaviour, and monopolistic aspirations, Murati's open rejection of such exorbitant compensation may enhance her company's standing as autonomous, and values-driven.