OpenAI's London staff earn average of £2.3m each annually

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Oct, 10:44 · Archive

OpenAI's 110 London staff shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares last year, averaging £2.3m per person.

OpenAI's accounts for its London operation show that 110 staff members shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares last year, resulting in an average package of £2,318,181 per person. The Westminster-based company, which operates the ChatGPT model, is opening a new headquarters in London's King's Cross area and is aiming to list on the stock market at a valuation of about £1tn.

The earnings amount to 58 times the median UK full-time employee salary. An OpenAI worker on an average package could expect to take home roughly £1,000 an hour in salary and equity before tax, though there is understood to be a wide discrepancy between the highest and lowest earners. The largest compensation packages are reserved for AI researchers who help build the company's cutting-edge models such as Astra.

The figures relate to 2025, when there was significant competition for AI talent. London's status as a hub for AI research, with top machine-learning experts from universities including Cambridge, has made it an important location for the company. Google DeepMind is also based in the same King's Cross area. OpenAI declined to comment on the figures.

How it is being reported

• OpenAI's London staff earn average £2.3m each as ChatGPT maker's value soarsOpenAI's British employees earned £2.3million on average last year as they collected bumper share awards after the valuation of the tech giant soared.This is Money · 15 Oct, 10:27
• OpenAI’s London staff receive average of £2.3m per person annuallyAccounts for the Westminster-based company behind ChatGPT show that 110 staff shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares last year OpenAI’s London staff each received £2,318,181 on average last year, as the ChatGPT-maker poured Premier League football salaries into its bid to dominate the global AI race. Accounts for OpenAI UK Ltd, which is based in Westminster but is opening a new HQ in London’s King’s Cross area, showed that 110 staff shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares in the company, which is aiming to list on the stock market at a valuation of about $1tn. Continue reading...Guardian World · 14 Oct, 20:15

In this story: OpenAI · London · Westminster · King's Cross · Cambridge · Google DeepMind · Meta · San Francisco

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