Numbers that turn heads: up to 14.5 million Czech crowns per year

According to data from U.S. federal documents related to H-1B visas, researchers in technical positions at OpenAI can earn a base salary from 245,000 to 685,000 USD annually (approximately 5.2 to 14.5 million Czech crowns). This amount does not include bonuses or stock awards, which can significantly increase the total compensation even further.

The independent portal Levels.fyi, which collects verified salaries from current and former employees, reports even higher figures. The median total annual compensation at OpenAI is 632,500 USD (over 13 million Czech crowns). The highest-paid role is Software Engineer at the L6 level with a total annual compensation of 1,278,800 USD (almost 27 million Czech crowns). A Hardware Engineer earns on average 1,200,000 USD, a Data Scientist 810,000 USD, and a Product Manager 860,000 USD annually.

However, base salaries are only part of the story. OpenAI employees often receive significant stock packages — so-called RSU (Restricted Stock Units) — with a four-year vesting schedule. These can double or further increase an employee's total compensation, making OpenAI one of the most attractive employers in the global technology sector.

The battle for talent: Why are salaries so high?

High compensation is no coincidence. OpenAI competes for the best minds with giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Anthropic. It also uses H-1B visas to hire experts from abroad — just at the end of 2025, the firm hired over 60 new colleagues this way. The total number of OpenAI employees has exceeded 4,000.

The company attracts specialists from elite universities such as Stanford, MIT, CalTech, and Carnegie Mellon. Last year, the firm filed more than 160 applications for these visas, reports Business Insider. The competition is such that even traditional tech giants must offer similarly lucrative packages, further increasing pressure on salaries across the entire industry.

Paradoxically, despite massive hiring, CEO Sam Altman wants to slow the pace of recruitment going forward. He believes that artificial intelligence itself will enable smaller teams to achieve previously unthinkable results. So far, however, it seems to be quite the opposite — the hunger for the best minds continues to grow, as noted by the Wall Street Journal.

Financial reality: a loss of 14 billion USD in 2026

Beneath the surface of impressive salaries lies a less flattering picture. Although OpenAI dominates technologically and ChatGPT is used monthly by approximately 800 million people, economically the company is deep in the red. For 2026, according to internal documents seen by the server The Information, it is counting on an astronomical loss of 14 billion USD (over 295 billion Czech crowns).

Profit could be achieved no earlier than around 2029, when revenues could exceed 100 billion USD. Until then, OpenAI must find a way to effectively monetize its huge user base. The introduction of ads into the free version of ChatGPT was controversial, and although the firm motivates users to switch to paid "Pro" versions, additional revenue sources are still lacking.

This makes investors nervous. Entrepreneur Brad Gerstner, an investor in OpenAI, asked CEO Sam Altman about the company's expenses upon learning that another 1.4 trillion USD was to be invested. Altman reportedly responded briefly: "If you want to sell your shares, I'll find you a buyer."

What does this mean for the Czech Republic and Europe?

For Czech readers, American salaries at OpenAI may seem distant, but the trend affects Europe too. Czech technology companies and AI startups face the same shortage of qualified specialists, albeit on a much smaller scale. According to surveys, salaries in the Czech IT sector have risen significantly in recent years, yet for experienced AI specialists they are often one-third to one-quarter compared to their American counterparts.

The European Union is also introducing the AI Act, which places new regulatory requirements on AI developers. This may affect how European companies compete with American giants in attracting talent. While OpenAI spends billions on research and employees, European startups often have to fight with smaller budgets and more complex regulation.

At the same time, the number of Czech specialists leaving to work in foreign AI labs is growing — not only to OpenAI, but also to competing companies in Germany, the United Kingdom, or the USA itself. This "brain drain" is a challenge for the Czech technology sector, which some local universities and innovation centers are addressing by placing increased emphasis on AI education.

Comparison with competitors: does OpenAI pay the most?

OpenAI is among the most generous employers, but it is not alone. According to data from Levels.fyi, for example, Google offers its highest engineering managers similar amounts, Meta invests billions in AI research, and even Anthropic, the competitor behind the Claude model, pays its researchers six-figure sums in dollars.

The difference is that OpenAI has the status of a rapidly growing startup with the ambitious goal of achieving AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) — artificial intelligence with general capabilities. This vision attracts not only capital but also talents who want to be part of something historic. High salaries are thus a combination of the economic reality of the market and the "missionary" belief that working at OpenAI has a global impact.

The future: a sustainable model, or a bubble?

Experts argue whether the current model of AI financing is sustainable. OpenAI has received investments in the tens, if not hundreds, of billions of USD, mostly from giants like Amazon and Nvidia. The number of users is encouraging, but converting them into revenue remains a challenge.

The situation resembles the early days of internet companies in the 1990s — massive growth, huge investments, but uncertain profitability. The difference is that the costs of developing and operating modern AI models are much higher. Training models like GPT-4o or the expected GPT-5 costs hundreds of millions of dollars, and inference (running the model for users) consumes additional billions.

For ordinary users, this means that the free version of ChatGPT will likely become increasingly limited, and companies like OpenAI will push for paid subscriptions or advertising. For Czech companies and developers, on the other hand, this opens an opportunity — if they can offer more efficient or more specialized models at lower costs, they can find their place in the market even without billion-dollar investments.