Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the AI lab would “dramatically slow down” hiring to avoid the kind of mass layoffs that have roiled the tech industry.
OpenAI is still growing. Federal filings show OpenAI continues to hire from abroad. And the company’s latest high-profile addition — OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger — underscores that the AI talent wars are still alive and well.
OpenAI’s workforce hails from elite universities like Stanford, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon, and they’re compensated accordingly. The company’s more than 4,000 employees receive an average of $1.5 million in stock-based compensation, The Wall Street Journal reported.
While OpenAI does not publicly disclose salary data, federal filings required for companies to hire foreign workers offer a window into how much it pays for key roles. The filings reflect only base salary — not stock awards or bonuses that can dramatically increase compensation.
In the most recent quarter, reflecting hires between October and December 2025, OpenAI onboarded over 60 employees from overseas. That’s up from the prior quarter and suggests steady growth despite the $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications imposed by the Trump administration in September.
OpenAI pays at the top of the market across functions. Research scientists sit at the highest end, with base salaries ranging from $245,000 to $685,000. Engineering roles can stretch into the mid-six figures, while sales roles can command between $165,000 and $290,000.
Here’s a closer look at OpenAI salaries, based on H-1B data for over 160 roles from the past four consecutive quarters.
AI researcher salaries
Member of Intelligence & Investigations Staff: $320,000 to $382,500
Member of Technical Staff (AI Systems Engineer): $245,000 to $460,000
Member of Technical Staff (Research & AI Systems): $310,000 to $460,000
Member of Technical Staff (Research Engineer): $210,000 to $460,000
Member of Technical Staff (Research Scientist): $245,000 to $685,000
Engineer and data scientist salaries
Member of Data Science Staff: $188,885 to $405,000
Member of Technical Staff (Data Science): $255,000 to $490,000
Member of Technical Staff (Hardware Engineer): $250,000 to $555,000
Member of Technical Staff (Security Engineer): $310,000 to $325,000
Member of Technical Staff (Software Developer): $325,000
Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer): $170,000 to $490,000
Product, program, and design staff salaries
Member of Design Staff: $245,000 to $310,000
Member of Product Staff (Product Management): $210,000 to $325,000
Member of Program Staff: $150,000 to $355,000
Sales and operations staff salaries
Member of Finance Staff: $240,000 to $260,000
Member of Go To Market Staff: $180,000 to $290,000
Member of Go to Market Staff (Customer Success): $165,000 to $240,000
Member of Go To Market Staff (Forward Deployed Engineer): $220,000
Member of Go To Market Staff (Support Engineer): $235,000
Member of Support and Community Staff: $180,000 to $235,000
