OpenAI will initiate a rare company-wide shutdown next week in a move aimed at giving employees time to recover from months of intense work schedules, sources told Wired. The decision follows a period in which staff have reportedly endured 80-hour workweeks, as the artificial intelligence leader accelerates its efforts toward building artificial general intelligence.
The break comes at a critical moment, as OpenAI faces increasing pressure to retain key talent amid aggressive poaching efforts by Meta. In recent weeks, Meta has successfully recruited several OpenAI researchers, including core contributors to its reasoning models such as Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, Xiaohua Zhai, and Trapit Bansal, who played a foundational role in developing the o1 model.
Chief Research Officer Mark Chen cautioned employees in an internal Slack message that Meta may try to capitalise on the shutdown, warning that the rival firm could target OpenAI staff during the break. “Meta knows we’re taking this week to recharge and will take advantage of it to try and pressure you to make decisions fast and in isolation,” Chen wrote, according to Wired.
The temporary closure, which excludes executives, is seen as part of a broader effort by OpenAI leadership to respond to external pressure and protect its workforce. In light of Meta’s reported offers—some of which include signing bonuses exceeding $100 million—OpenAI is actively “recalibrating comp” and exploring “creative ways to recognise and reward top talent,” Chen said.
CEO Sam Altman has dismissed some of the reported compensation figures as exaggerated, but acknowledged the competitive environment. He insisted that OpenAI’s most valued contributors have not accepted offers from rivals, crediting the company’s retention success to its innovation focus and long-term mission. Altman also confirmed that OpenAI will pivot away from frequent product releases and instead concentrate on achieving artificial general intelligence as its central goal.
The shutdown highlights the intensifying competition in the AI sector, where top researchers are in high demand and workplace conditions are under growing scrutiny.
