OpenAI vs xAI salary
The median posted base pay for tech jobs is $351K a year at OpenAI and $220K a year at xAI. The median at OpenAI is 60% above the median at xAI. The numbers come from 378 open jobs at OpenAI and 68 open jobs at xAI with posted pay.
OpenAI and xAI: all tech jobs
OpenAI: The middle half of the jobs is from $292K to $396K. xAI: The middle half of the jobs is from $183K to $255K.
| Measure | OpenAI | xAI |
|---|---|---|
| Median posted base pay | $351K | $220K |
| Middle half of the jobs | $292K to $396K | $183K to $255K |
| Median posted range | $266K to $414K | $174K to $267K |
| 10th to 90th percentile | $246K to $440K | $149K to $289K |
| Open jobs with posted pay | 378 | 68 |
OpenAI vs xAI pay by job type
The median for each job type that has 3 or more jobs with posted pay at both companies. The difference compares OpenAI with xAI. One job can have more than one job type.
| Job type | Median at OpenAI | Median at xAI | Difference | Jobs at OpenAI | Jobs at xAI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineering | $356K | $205K | +73% | 138 | 26 |
| ML / AI engineering | $366K | $255K | +44% | 104 | 27 |
| Inference & ML systems | $358K | $255K | +40% | 74 | 39 |
| Infra, platform & SRE | $356K | $255K | +39% | 62 | 14 |
| Security engineering | $356K | $149K | +139% | 28 | 10 |
| Data engineering | $356K | $215K | +65% | 3 | 5 |
OpenAI vs xAI pay by level
The median for each level in the job title that has 3 or more jobs with posted pay at both companies.
| Level | Median at OpenAI | Median at xAI | Difference | Jobs at OpenAI | Jobs at xAI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level not stated | $351K | $183K | +92% | 352 | 32 |
| Senior | $285K | $255K | +12% | 14 | 36 |
Open jobs with the highest posted pay
The five open jobs with the highest posted pay at each company. Each range is the base pay that the company posted.
OpenAI
- Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Foundations, Search$380K to $850K
- Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Web Understanding and Structured Retrieval, Search$380K to $850K
- Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Safety + Alignment, Search$380K to $850K
- Researcher, Training$300K to $600K
- Engineering Manager, MLE$500K to $555K
xAI
- Software Engineer, Evaluation Infrastructure$180K to $440K
- Lead Engineer, AI Infrastructure (C++, C)$220K to $357K
- Sr. Model Engineer, Mid-Training$220K to $357K
- Sr. Model Engineer, Post-Training & RL$220K to $357K
- Sr. Model Engineer, RL Training Framework$220K to $357K
More about OpenAI and xAI
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Questions
Which company pays more, OpenAI or xAI?
OpenAI has the higher median posted base pay: $351K a year, against $220K at xAI. The median at OpenAI is 60% above the median at xAI.
What do software engineering jobs pay at OpenAI and xAI?
The median posted base pay for software engineering jobs is $356K at OpenAI (138 jobs) and $205K at xAI (26 jobs).
Does this pay include stock or a bonus?
No. The numbers are the base pay ranges that the companies posted in their open jobs. Stock, a bonus and benefits are not in the numbers. Total pay at these companies can be much higher than base pay.
Where does the data come from?
We read each open job from the job board of OpenAI and of xAI, and we check each job every day. We use only jobs that state a yearly pay range in US dollars.
How we compute these numbers
We read each job from the job board of the company and check it every day. We use only open jobs that state a yearly pay range in US dollars. One job counts with the middle point of its posted range. The median is the middle value of these amounts: half of the jobs are above it and half are below it.
We do not use a range with a bottom below $15,000, a top above $1,000,000, or a top that is more than four times the bottom. A company needs 20 or more open jobs with posted pay to be in a comparison. A job type or a level needs 3 or more jobs at both companies to be a row. Jobs under the same company name count as one company.
The numbers are base pay as the company posted it. They are not the pay of a person, and they do not include stock, a bonus or benefits. For the stock and the bonus that people reported, see Reported pay.