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Meta Layoffs: Indian AI Startup Hires 600 Ex-Meta Engineers With High Salaries

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Indian AI Startup Hires Meta Engineers who had the highest salaries

Meta has downsized approximately 600 workers in its AI department in one of its major steps. These layoffs were mostly done to teams, which were invested in infrastructure and fundamental AI research (FAIR) and product groups. 

As the news of the cuts began to spread, the story of what happened when an Indian-origin founder intervened to offer the lifeline started to develop.

How the Indian AI Startup is Performing

The name of the startup is Smallest AI, and the company was launched by Sudarshan Kamath who is an Indian-origin entrepreneur. He even put a post on social media publicly stating that his company is willing to employ the affected Meta employees:

“Laid off from Meta? The smallest AI in San Francisco is hiring a speech team! Comp – $200-600K base. Equity – flexible. Seeking experience on speech evals, speech generation, full-duplex speech to speech. Must be smart and hungry.”

The offer highlights the fact that the startup talent wars in AI are intensifying, particularly as bigger companies downsize and thinner startups go on a breakneck to recruit the top talent.

The Compensation & Role Details

Salary & Equity

The published salary scale is between US$200,000 and US$600,000 with flexible equity packages to the successful candidates. This puts the compensation on the high end of what lots of big tech companies provide.

Role Requirements

As was mentioned in the post by Kamath, the startup is seeking the skills of specialists who have:

  • Speech evaluation experience and speech generation experience.
  • Full-duplex speech-to-speech skills.
  • A smart and hungry attitude.

This informs us that the startup is not seeking generalist positions, it is seeking specialized talent that aligns well to the mission of the speech AI at the startup.

Why This Matters

Talent Movement in AI

This trend of the Indian AI firm recruiting laid-off Meta engineers is an example of two things:

  • Large tech companies downsized part of their AI units even after they had been aggressive in hiring a few years ago.
  • Startups opportunistic in their talent acquisition.

Strategic Implications

To the brand, snatching the best talent of a legend such as Meta is authoritative and could speed up product innovation. The offer is an opportunity to some of the engineers to transfer to potentially more productive positions with an equity bonus and high salaries.

In the case of the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Another aspect that the story brings out is the role of Indian-origin entrepreneurs in AI playing critical roles around the world. Although the employment lies in San Francisco, it sends a message: Indian talent and founders are causing some huge changes to the global talent in AI.

Conclusion

To summarize, the recent trend of the AI job market being dynamic is illustrated in the story of how an Indian-origin founder and his startup are intervening to hire 600 laid-off Meta engineers. The story, titled Indian AI startup hires Meta laid-off, but it embodies a larger trend: the top talent is mobile, startup hiring is aggressive, and the Indian tech diaspora still shapes the trend in AI across the globe. With the layoffs spreading through large tech, agile startups are taking their opportunity, and they are providing what many would regard as a dream salary and mission-oriented work.

Disclaimer

The data used in the article regarding the Indian AI start-up that employed laid-off workers of Meta is founded on publicly accessible reports of such news outlets as NDTV, Indian Express, and LiveMint. Although all has been done to remain factual, certain details like the salary amount, number of hires to be made, and the plans of a company are subject to change with time. The article is purely informational and educational. We do not own any third-party content, pictures, and trademarks that are discussed herein. The rights of each right belong to the particular owners.

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