Why AI’s Richest Winners Are Still Just Humans

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Tech CEOs warn of AI job cuts, but ironically, the few building AI are cashing in. Meta is showering millions on top AI talent to lead its superintelligence efforts. Mark Zuckerberg hired Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman while poaching OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic researchers. AI researchers are now seen as indispensable for building smarter, more adaptable models. Meanwhile, roles like software engineering and customer service face cuts as AI takes over menial tasks. Companies still need humans to define problems and steer AI’s magic, despite automation hype. OpenAI’s Mark Chen fumed over Meta’s poaching spree, promising creative ways to retain talent. So yes — in the age of AI, some humans are still irreplaceable, provided they’re expensive enough to be.

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In the age of artificial intelligence, doom-and-gloom predictions about job loss dominate headlines, yet one elite group of humans is thriving. AI researchers and leaders are now the hottest commodity in tech, commanding multi-million dollar salaries and perks as companies race to build superintelligence. Meta recently made waves by hiring Scale AI’s CEO Alexandr Wang as its first chief AI officer, investing billions into his company, and recruiting former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to co-lead its new superintelligence lab. This aggressive push reflects Meta’s urgent need to catch up to rivals like OpenAI and Google in the AI arms race.

Meta didn’t stop with just big names. It raided the talent pools of OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, poaching key researchers to bolster its AI efforts. Zuckerberg made it clear in his internal memo: building superintelligence is not only possible but crucial, and Meta intends to lead. This cutthroat battle for talent sparked an emotional reaction from OpenAI’s leadership. Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer, expressed outrage over Meta’s tactics, vowing to improve compensation packages and create new ways to keep their top talent from defecting.

While companies loudly promote AI’s ability to replace workers, they quietly admit that humans remain essential — at least the right ones. AI research scientists capable of designing, training, and fine-tuning general-purpose models are now indispensable. These experts don’t just program machines; they teach them what to solve and, more importantly, why. This creative and strategic role cannot yet be automated, much to the relief of those drawing massive paychecks.

The AI hiring frenzy has an inevitable downside: other roles are shrinking. Software engineers, customer service reps, and data entry workers are among the first to feel AI’s pinch. Amazon and others have already signaled cuts in these areas to save costs. Yet even as Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff trumpets AI doing half of the work, his company still lists dozens of open AI-related positions. It’s clear the AI revolution is not about replacing everyone — just most people who aren’t building it.