The demand for AI skills has surged since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, with companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Meta offering salaries up to $900,000 a year to attract AI talent. However, Srinivas believes that creating AI models isn't enough, and post-training skills are crucial to make AI tools useful. He emphasized that employees from industries like crypto or e-commerce could quickly learn these skills, which could help AI companies like Perplexity stand out in a sector dominated by Big Tech.
Key takeaways:
- Hiring AI talent is becoming increasingly difficult due to the high demand for AI skills and the need for high-end resources like Nvidia's H100 GPUs.
- Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, an AI startup, shared his experience of failing to hire a senior researcher from Meta due to lack of enough GPUs.
- Big tech companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Meta are offering high salaries, up to $900,000 a year, to attract generative AI talent.
- Srinivas believes that post-training skills, such as reducing a chatbot's factual inaccuracies, are crucial for making AI tools useful and can help smaller AI companies stand out in a sector dominated by Big Tech.