OpenAI and Anthropic are battling Big Tech for talent. We asked workers who's winning them over — and who's not.

Mike Kostersitz (left), Abhinav Bohra (center), and Sneja Shah (right) shared their dream employers and the companies they might pass on. Mike Kostersitz (left), Abhinav Bohra (center), and Sneja Shah (right) Tech companies are competing fiercely for workers who can help them win the AI race. We asked eight tech workers for their dream employers — and the companies they'd pass on. Some favored OpenAI or Anthropic, while others preferred Big Tech. While tech companies are pouring billions into AI infrastructure, they are also competing fiercely for AI talent — and the AI boom is reshaping the choices available to workers. Alongside established giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon, frontier AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic now offer the chance to work at the edge of a technological shift, with potentially significant financial upside. Meanwhile, years of tech layoffs have made job security a bigger consideration for many workers. We asked eight tech workers about their dream employer, the Big Tech companies they're most and least interested in, and whether they've pursued jobs at OpenAI or Anthropic. (Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.) AI labs have come calli