OpenAI's London-based staff earn an average of £2.3m each as ChatGPT maker's value soars

OpenAI's British employees earned £2.3million on average last year as they collected bumper share awards after the valuation of the tech giant soared.

The London arm of OpenAI said its total wage bill comprised £87.3million in base salaries, with employees collecting an average £794,000 a year.

But share-based compensation jumped to £167.8million as the tech firm behind ChatGPT saw its valuation soar ahead of its stock market debut.

This handed OpenAI's 110 staff an average £1.5million bonus each, to bring their annual take-home pay to £2.3million.

Total staff costs reached £258million in 2025, up from £60.7million in 2024, including pension costs and other employee benefits.

Open AI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit with boss Sam Altman and Elon Musk as co-chairs. Musk resigned in 2018. 

It launched ChatGPT in 2022 and the tool gained 100million active users within two months of its release, kicking off the global AI boom. 

But shortly after in 2023, Altman was controversially fired and then rehired by the firm's board within five days after they accused him of not being 'consistently candid in his communications.' He was reinstated following employee pressure.

It is no longer a non-profit after converting to a public benefit corporation in 2025. 

Artificial, a film about OpenAI starring Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman, will be released later this year. 

The firm is looking to raise at least $30billion in funding when it floats on the stock market at a valuation of around $1.4trillion, but recent forecasts suggest it could burn through $278billion in cash by the end of the decade.

OpenAI filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in June, but it has pushed it back until 2027, with chief executive Sam Altman citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence.

Its UK office recorded a near trebling of turnover from £79.2million to £293million last year, which OpenAI said was down to a 'significant expansion' in sales, marketing and research and development activity. Profit rose from £5.4million to £20.3million.

The London subsidiary, which is based in Westminster but will soon open a King's Cross HQ, is its largest international research hub, but it is also home to sales, marketing and government affairs teams.

Rival Anthropic, which is seeking a valuation of around $1trillion ahead of an expected IPO next month, is also looking to bolster its team in the UK to 800 people.

It is offering generous salaries for non-technical staff, with reports of a £145,000 pay package for a personal assistant for London executives.

AI stocks fall on investor jitters

Figures published on Wednesday show Anthropic's revenue surged by 45 per cent to $16.8billion in the three months to September.

But investors are growing jittery over investments in artificial intelligence with stocks dropping overnight. 

In Asia, South Korea's tech-heavy Kospi and Kosdaq indices were temporarily halted after falling by more than 8 per cent.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: 'Tech investors are getting uncomfortable with the amount of debt being used to fund the AI build-out. 

'There is a growing fear that big names in the tech space are running too fast, and they're primed to trip up.

'Reports about Anthropic's third quarter revenue suggest it isn't growing as fast as expected, which added to fears that the AI euphoria might be hard to sustain.'