AI companies like ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI are racing to hire the best engineers and researchers. In the past, reports have suggested that these companies have offered high-paying packages as well as other incentives such as stock options to lure them. But it seems that the latest battleground for hiring the world’s top engineers has shifted to an unexpected area: the office kitchen.. In a viral exchange on social media, Elon Musk, a former OpenAI executive, and Thibault Sottiaux, Engineering lead for Codex, turned a recruitment drive into a debate over who serves the best wood-fired pizza.

‘Join the Dark Side, We Have Cookies’

The conversation began when Thibault Sottiaux, a former OpenAI engineer now leading Codex, invited developers to join his “small and efficient” team while noting that 2026 is the year where “it all takes off.” The pitch quickly took a nostalgic turn when a former colleague from the OpenAI team joined the conversation, saying, “Join the dark side, we have cookies!” The conversation quickly turned to pizzas, dough and chefs, eventually coming back to AGI.Read the full conversation here:Elon Musk: Join xAIThibault Sottiaux: Or join Codex. We operate with much of the same principles, incredibly small and efficient. We also select for being humble and incredible at building on top of each other’s successes.Unique time to join, 2026 is the year where it all takes off.Heinrich Kuttler: I loved working with you Thibault! Back when we both were relative nobodies 😅Join the dark side, we have cookies!Thibault Sottiaux: Join the bright side, we have pizzaElon Musk: But how good is your wood oven pizza?Ours is 👌Thibault Sottiaux: But how about the dough? Can’t take shortcuts, needs 24 hours at least. And our chef is 🔥Elon Musk: Our chef is so good that God looked down at the food from heaven and said you my most delicious creation 👼Thibault Sottiaux: And after having a bite, he wasn’t 100% satisfied and asked our chef to improve upon the SoTA. Our chef delivered, and created a recipe now universally credited to accelerating the AGI timeline.