Day: August 12, 2025

• Microsoft targets Meta employees in AI talent war, internal documents show.
• The software giant has an internal list of its most-wanted Meta engineers.
• Microsoft also has a new process, and special budgets, to make its AI job offers more competitive.

Microsoft is going after Meta‘s AI talent.

The software giant has compiled a list of its most-wanted Meta engineers and researchers, and is starting a new process intended to make offers more competitive, including a mandate to match Meta’s compensation for top talent, according to insiders and internal documents viewed by Business Insider.

Microsoft recently reported blowout earnings, sending its market valuation toward $4 trillion, thanks in large part to excitement around generative AI. Microsoft needs to lure top AI engineers and researchers to keep that success going. The company has cut thousands of employees this year but has insisted its headcount will remain flat, suggesting significant hiring plans.

Matching Meta offers is no small feat. The social-media company has been making nine-figure offers for top AI talent. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said Meta is offering $100 million signing bonuses to his engineers, and Meta has recently hired AI researchers with pay packages as high as $250 million.

Microsoft documents viewed by Business Insider show the software company is making multimillion-dollar offers, and two people familiar with the process say multimillion-dollar on-hire bonuses for AI talent are becoming more common.

Microsoft AI, a team run by former Google DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman, and CoreAI, another Microsoft group overseen by ex-Meta engineering boss Jay Parikh, have special recruiting teams to help with competitive offers, these people said. They asked not to be identified discussing sensitive, private matters.

Parikh’s organizational chart, recently viewed by Business Insider, shows much of his roster includes executives with whom he overlapped at Meta.

A spreadsheet of Microsoft’s most-wanted Meta employees lists individuals by name, location, and position, and includes tabs for teams and positions that Microsoft is targeting such as Reality Labs, GenAI Infrastructure and Meta AI Research. The spreadsheet is being shared among hiring managers on certain AI teams, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Microsoft has started a new process for competitive offers, asking recruiters to mark candidates as “critical AI talent,” which gets the attention of higher-ups who respond with Microsoft’s top offer within 24 hours.

Documents viewed by Business Insider show how that process works, such as providing “offer rationale” about the candidate’s AI skills and experience, using a private “compensation modeler” to come up with a bespoke range for the candidate, and enlisting a compensation consultant.

The new process could help Microsoft compete with AI talent outside of its traditional pay ranges.

Business Insider recently published Microsoft’s internal pay guidelines for engineers and researchers. The highest compensation package includes $408,000 in salary, $1.9 million in on-hire stock awards, nearly $1.5 million in annual stock awards, and annual cash bonuses as high as 90%.

Those documents included an important carve-out for competitive situations, such as cases involving top AI talent, where recruiters can seek approval for higher offers for exceptional candidates.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

• Taylor Swift announced her 12th album in a podcast clip released on Tuesday morning.
• Swift wore luxe jewelry for the occasion, including a Cartier watch and necklace.
• Diamonds and gold have become staples of the superstar’s understated wardrobe.

Even in her new era, Taylor Swift remains bejeweled.

At 12:12 a.m. on Tuesday, the superstar announced her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” in a teaser for the coming episode of “New Heights,” a podcast hosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason Kelce. The full episode will be released on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.

In the clip, Swift looks unexpectedly casual. Her hair is styled in loose waves, her signature red lip has been replaced with an orange hue, and she’s wearing a white, button-up blouse.

That’s because she let her jewelry do all the talking.

The flashiest piece she wore for the podcast appearance appears to be a Santos Demoiselle watch from Cartier. The luxury brand doesn’t currently sell the model, but it’s listed on resale websites at prices between $17,000 and $27,000.

Her Panthère de Cartier necklace was a close competitor. It retails for $11,400 and is made with a mix of 18-carat yellow gold, a tsavorite garnet stone, and 19 diamonds. She’s worn it before on dates with Travis Kelce in New York City.

She also wore an assortment of nondescript rings, a gold bracelet, and a sold-out, tan version of Sandy Liang’s Paris skort, which costs $625.

Swift, of course, is constantly decked out in extravagant jewels and designer pieces.

Many will remember her daring Grammys outfit earlier this year, which included a corseted minidress and a leg chain with a T initial charm. She designed the ruby piece with Lorraine Schwartz.

Her wardrobe last year was even more glamorous and was estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

She wore $108,000 worth of diamond earrings at the 2024 Golden Globes, a $75,000 outfit to a Chiefs game, and $66,000 worth of clothes and accessories for a friend’s wedding, among other looks.

We don’t know the details yet, but something about Swift’s coming era seems different — maybe even more relaxed. After all, she announced this new album in a podcast teaser.

Her fashion, though, seems to be the same: simple, striking, and undeniably luxe.