AI wage gap — OpenAI UK Branch Pays Average 4 Billion Won per Person

Last year, OpenAI reportedly paid an average wage of 4 billion won ($3 million) per employee to its UK subsidiary staff. AI wage gap is rapidly accelerating as artificial intelligence businesses reshape the global job market.

According to the OpenAI UK subsidiary’s audit report submitted to Companies House on the 14th (local time), the average basic salary per employee at the subsidiary last year was confirmed to be 790,000 pounds (approximately 1.4 billion won). When adding Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) provided as performance bonuses, the average wage per employee reached 2.3 million pounds (approximately 4 billion won). This exceeds 58 times the annual median income of full-time workers (39,000 pounds) compiled by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). It was also 40 times higher than the median income (58,000 pounds) of the finance and insurance industry, which has the highest income in the UK. Eunsung Won, OpenAI Korea’s Communications General Manager, explained, ‘Because overseas subsidiaries hire a lot of experienced professionals, their wage levels are higher compared to the headquarters, which has a large proportion of entry-level workers.’

OpenAI UK Subsidiary Growth and High Stock Compensation

The OpenAI UK branch is the company’s first overseas outpost, established in 2023. Last year, the number of employees was 110, of which 34 were Research and Development (R&D) personnel, as AI model development is handled by the US headquarters. Thanks to a focus on sales and marketing, OpenAI UK subsidiary revenue surged more than threefold from 79.21 million pounds (140.9 billion won) in 2024 to 292.96 million pounds (521.2 billion won) last year. RSUs paid in proportion to performance increased, driving up the average wage. The soaring valuation of OpenAI, which jumped from $300 billion in March to $500 billion in October last year, also significantly boosted the value of stock compensation.

The Broader Impact of AI on Labor Market Inequality

The IT industry evaluates that AI businesses have become a catalyst for widening wage gaps among workers. According to an analysis by global consulting firm PwC of 1 billion job postings across 27 countries in June, average advertised salaries for AI-related jobs were 62% higher on average than jobs unrelated to AI. PwC analyzed that this is the result of assigning higher wages to AI-related competencies as artificial intelligence takes over repetitive tasks. Prospects suggest that wage gaps driven by AI are likely to widen in South Korea as well. The Science and Technology Policy Institute released a report titled ‘AI Exposure and Wage Inequality’ on the 8th, predicting that ‘as the AI premium—compensation based on AI competencies—increases across the employment market, wage inequalities due to AI-related knowledge and technology can appear even for the same tasks.’