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Meta Pays Four Young Engineers Average Salary of $65 Million for AI Work

PBD Podcast · Amy Coney Barrett Threatened, NYC Data Center Ban, OpenAI vs Apple| PBD Podcast #833 · July 16, 2026
Meta Pays Four Young Engineers Average Salary of $65 Million for AI Work
PBD Podcast
PBD Podcast
Amy Coney Barrett Threatened, NYC Data Center Ban, OpenAI vs Apple| PBD Podcast #833
"We just hired like 10 kids that are aged 22 to 28. The average salary is like $65 million that these kids are making that are coming in working on AI. Zuckerberg, who is a brilliant gangster, this guy is a gangster, putting all the chips in on AI."
UFC President Dana White, who sits on Meta's board, revealed the company hired 10 engineers aged 22-28 at an average salary of $65 million annually to work on artificial intelligence. White called Mark Zuckerberg a "brilliant gangster" for the aggressive AI investment strategy. The revelation highlights the extreme war for AI talent in Silicon Valley.

About this episode

In a wide-ranging episode, host Patrick Bet-David and co-hosts Tom Ellsworth, Adam Sosnick, and Vincent Oshana tackle major stories across technology, politics, and culture. The most significant discussion centers on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose conservative voting record dropped from 81% before the Dobbs leak to 50-60% afterward, coinciding with death threats requiring bulletproof vests. Bet-David argues this threatens judicial independence and calls for her resignation if threats are influencing her decisions. In technology news, Apple has sued OpenAI for alleged industrial espionage, claiming the company systematically stole trade secrets after acquiring Jony Ive's hardware startup for $6.4 billion. The lawsuit alleges OpenAI instructed job candidates still at Apple to bring proprietary parts to interviews. IBM suffered its worst single-day stock crash since 1968, dropping 25% and losing $72 billion in market cap after missing earnings projections. The company faces internal turmoil with 135,000 employees in India versus 40,000 in the US. New York became the first state to ban large AI data centers for one year, a move critics say will push infrastructure to other states or China. In a controversial surrogacy case, a Canadian same-sex couple is suing their surrogate for $600,000 after she refused to abort their child over a cleft lip diagnosis at 22 weeks. Dana White revealed Meta is paying engineers aged 22-28 an average of $65 million annually for AI work. The episode also covers the upcoming World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, Trump's planned primetime address on election integrity and Iran, and a cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taco Bell locations. Throughout the discussion, the hosts emphasize themes of integrity under pressure, the commercialization of human life, and America's technological competitiveness.

Key takeaways

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