TL;DR: Chinese robotics startup UBTech is throwing absurd money around, offering up to $18 million for a chief scientist to help them rival Tesla’s Optimus.
The talent war in robotics has officially reached professional sports levels of cash. Chinese humanoid startup UBTech is actively hunting for a new chief AI scientist. The maximum salary on the table is a jaw dropping $18 million.
That is an insane amount of money for a single hire. But it shows exactly how high the stakes are right now. UBTech wants to directly rival Tesla and their Optimus program. They know that whoever solves the core AI challenges first will own a market worth trillions.
So if you happen to be a world class expert in reinforcement learning and humanoid control systems, now might be a good time to update your resume. The companies building our future mechanical companions are clearly willing to pay whatever it takes to win.