The European AI talent war is heating up as startups from abroad set up shop in the region, putting pressure on established players like Google DeepMind to compete for engineers.

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere have opened European offices, intensifying competition for skilled AI staff and driving up salaries and stock-based incentives.

In response to departures, DeepMind has earlier granted senior researchers limited stock access worth millions to help retain talent.

Paris-based Bioptimus, founded by former DeepMind staff, raised $35 million in February, underscoring a pattern of DeepMind alumni launching new ventures.

Notable moves between DeepMind and newer AI firms continue, with Cohere recruiting DeepMind veterans Phil Blunsom and Sebastian Ruder.

Executive search firm Total Fairbank notes UK AI executives are seeing sharp salary jumps, with base pay around £350,000 and added boosts of £50,000 to £100,000.

Cohere plans to double its European workforce to about 50 by focusing on London and other European offices, reflecting a strategy to be where talent concentrates.

London-based ElevenLabs is offering stock options and high salaries to attract European talent and aims to double headcount to 100 after an $80 million funding round.

Experts warn that fierce demand for AI expertise is turning the talent pool into a scarce resource, giving workers more leverage in negotiations.

Analysts say talent competition is reshaping the AI landscape as big tech firms and startups vie for the same pool of engineers and researchers.

OpenAI expanded into Europe with new international offices in London and Dublin as part of its broader European growth strategy.