AI startups offer six-figure salaries: OpenAI and Anthropic lead with pay up to $690,000 in 2025

AI startups are offering staggering salaries to attract top technical talent, with figures revealing a fierce competition for expertise in the sector. According to data from federal H-1B visa filings, which require companies to disclose compensation details when hiring foreign workers, OpenAI and Anthropic lead the pack, with technical staff earning up to $530,000 and $690,000 annually, respectively. These numbers highlight the growing urgency for AI firms to secure skilled professionals as the industry races to advance cutting-edge technologies. The H-1B program, which allows U.S. companies to employ up to 85,000 specialized workers each year through a lottery system, provides rare transparency into pay scales. While the disclosed figures represent base annual salaries, they exclude stock options, signing bonuses, and other perks that can significantly inflate total compensation. For instance, OpenAI’s research engineers reportedly earn between $295,000 and $530,000, while software engineers at the company make $255,000 to $590,000. Anthropic’s research engineers also fall within a similar range, with salaries reaching up to $690,000. Other AI startups show comparable trends. Cohere, a leading natural language processing company, lists AI engineers at $223,000 and data scientists at $170,000. Glean, an AI-powered search startup, reports software engineers earning $180,000 to $302,100, while its data platform engineering managers make $315,000. Grammarly, the writing-assistance firm, offers software engineers $180,000 to $302,100 and machine learning software engineers $318,000. Mid-tier unicorns—venture-backed companies valued at over $1 billion—also provide competitive packages. Software engineers at these firms routinely earn $250,000, underscoring the broader trend of elevated pay across the AI sector. The data, compiled by Business Insider from filings of top AI startups valued above $2 billion, excludes companies in robotics, defense, and autonomous driving. Key roles at OpenAI include technical staff positions ranging from $210,000 to $530,000, with hardware engineers earning $360,000 and security engineers $310,000. Anthropic’s technical roles span $230,000 to $690,000, including research engineers and managers. Mistral AI, the French startup, lists AI engineers at $223,000, while Perplexity, a search AI company, reports software engineers at $250,000. Some firms emphasize that their disclosed figures are conservative. A recruiter at OpenAI noted that more accurate salary ranges are listed on the company’s careers page, suggesting that actual compensation may exceed public filings. Meanwhile, startups like Safe Superintelligence Inc. and Thinking Machines Lab, led by co-founder Ilya Sutskever and CEO Mira Murati respectively, also reflect high pay for technical and research roles. The surge in salaries underscores the critical role of data labeling and engineering in AI development. As companies like Scale AI expand their teams to meet demand for high-quality training data, the competition for talent intensifies. This trend aligns with broader industry shifts, where AI labs such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic face pressure to outpace rivals in innovation. These figures highlight the intense competition for technical talent in the AI sector, as companies vie to attract and retain top experts. With salaries reaching six figures and beyond, the race for skilled professionals is reshaping the landscape of tech employment.