According to The Information, in the past few months, Tencent has offered AI researchers at ByteDance salary increases of up to double, and it's not an isolated case. Some core researchers in ByteDance's large model team have already accepted Tencent's offers, marking a dramatic shift in the competition for AI talent among China's internet giants.
In the past year, ByteDance was the one actively poaching talent from others, but now the situation has quietly reversed. This may be why ByteDance is accelerating its long-term incentive plans like Doubao Shares — by binding core talents through equity, it aims to counter the high-salary strategies of its competitors.
Tencent's determination is not only reflected in poaching key personnel from competitors, but also extending its outreach to campuses. Facing recent doctoral graduates, Tencent has launched a program similar to ByteDance's Top Seed project, offering salaries 50% higher than the industry average, accelerating the supplementation of its talent gap in fundamental research. According to reports, some core researchers in ByteDance's large model team have already accepted Tencent's offers.
Behind this talent war lies a fundamental shift in the strategic focus of China's internet industry. If in recent years, internet giants were cutting costs and improving efficiency by laying off operational and redundant positions, now the ones being highly contested are the most scarce and critical research talents capable of driving model evolution from scratch.
