Sudarshan Kamath’s Smallest AI offers $200K-$600K salaries to Meta AI layoffs, seeking top speech AI talent in San Francisco. Photo: X.
The recent layoffs at Meta’s AI division have triggered a hiring spree among AI startups eager to attract top talent. Indian-origin, Sudarshan Kamath, the US-based IIT alumnus and founder of Smallest AI, is also among the entrepreneurs reaching out to affected employees. Kamath took to social media on Wednesday morning, sharing an open invitation to the 600 employees recently laid off from Meta’s AI units.
“Laid off from Meta? We are hiring in the speech team for Smallest AI in San Francisco!” Kamath announced.
Smallest AI is offering competitive salary to entice skilled professionals. According to Kamath, base salaries for the new roles could range from $200,000 to $600,000, with additional equity incentives.
“At $600,000 base, an employee would be earning well over half a million dollars,” he said.
The openings, however, come with certain needs. Kamath specified that candidates must have experience in speech evaluation, speech generation, and full-duplex speech-to-speech systems.
“Looking for candidates who are f***ing smart and hungry,” Kamath added.
Interested candidates were encouraged to contact him directly for consideration.
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Several other startup founders have publicly expressed their interest in hiring laid-off Meta AI employees.
Ben Taylor, founder of Spec, reached out to impacted employees on social media. He posted, “The work you’ve done has shaped how all of us think about intelligence. With Spec, we’re building ambient intelligence that’s human-centered, contextual, and privacy-first. If you’ve been part of what made Meta AI great and are looking for what’s next, my DMs are open!”
Carina Hong, hiring for Axiom, also shared her message to the affected Meta employees, “You are world-class. We have read your work. You deserve a new place you call home,” she said.
The layoffs come as Meta reportedly reduces its AI workforce by around 600 employees, primarily affecting its Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) unit, AI infrastructure, and other product-focused positions, Axios reported. Meta confirmed the layoffs on Wednesday.
“By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,” Meta Chief AI Officer Alexander Wang wrote in an internal memo, according to Bloomberg.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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