Regulators Need AI Expertise. They Can’t Afford It – WIRED

ChatGPT caught regulators by surprise when it set off a new AI race. As companies have rushed to develop and release ever more powerful models, lawmakers and regulators around the world have sought to catch up and rein in development.

As governments spin up new AI programs, regulators around the world are urgently trying to hire AI experts. But some of the job ads are raising eyebrows and even chuckles among AI researchers and engineers for offering wages that, amid the current AI boom, look pitiful.

The European AI Office, which will be central to the implementation of the EUs AI Act, listed vacancies early this month and wants applicants to begin work in the fall. They include openings for technology specialists in AI with a masters degree in computer science or engineering and at least one years experience, at a seniority level that suggests an annual salary from 47,320 ($51,730).

Across La Manche, the UK governments Department for Science, Innovation & Technology is also seeking AI experts. One open position is Head of the International AI Safety Report, who would help shepherd a landmark global report that stems from the UKs global AI Safety Summit last year. The ad says expertise in frontier AI safety and/or demonstrable experience of upskilling quickly in a complex new policy area is essential. The salary offered is 64,660 ($82,730) a year.

Although the EU listing is net of tax, the salaries are far lower than the eye-watering sums being offered within the industry. Levels.fyi, which compiles verified tech industry compensation data, reports that the median total compensation for workers at OpenAI is $560,000, including stock grants, as is common in the tech industry. The lowest compensation it has verified at the ChatGPT maker, for a recruiter, is $190,000.

Theres a brain drain happening across every government across the world.

Nolan Church, cofounder, FairComp

At OpenAIs Amazon-backed rival Anthropiccreator of the Claude chatbotthe median compensation of $212,500 still far outstrips what regulators are currently offering. The lower 25th percentile for jobs in machine learning and AI is $172,500, according to Levels.fyi. Stock grants included in tech industry compensation packages can turn into huge windfalls if a companys value increases. OpenAI is currently valued at $80 billion following a February 2024 share tender first reported by The New York Times.

Theres a brain drain happening across every government across the world, says Nolan Church, cofounder and CEO at FairComp, a company tracking salary data to help workers negotiate better pay. Part of the reason why is that private companies not only have a better working environment, but also will offer significantly higher salaries.

Church worries that competition between private companies will also widen the gap further between the private and public sector. I personally believe the government should be attracting the best and the brightest, he says, but how can you convince the best and the brightest to take a massive pay cut?

Its not new for government jobs to pay significantly less than those in industry, but in the current AI boom the disconnect is potentially more significant and urgent. Tech companies and corporations in other industries rushing to embrace the technology are competing fiercely for AI-savvy talent. The rapid pace of developments in AI means regulators need to move fast.

Jack Clark, a cofounder of Anthropic, posted on X comparing the EU AI Offices salary offer unfavorably to tech industry internships. I appreciate governments are working within their own constraints, but if you want to carry out some ambitious regulation of the AI sector then you need to pay a decent wage, he wrote. You don't need to be competitive with industry, but you definitely need to be in the ballpark.

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Regulators Need AI Expertise. They Can't Afford It - WIRED