The hottest job in AI right now may be counterintelligence as companies pay former spooks $500,000 to protect trade secrets
AI firms like OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia have started hiring for counterintelligence roles in recent years, with most salaries ranging from $200,000 to $500,000, according to workforce data tracker Revelio Labs.
Key points
- OpenAI is seeking a senior global security investigator with counterintelligence listed as a key skill, Anthropic is advertising for a threat-intelligence security engineer, and ASML is in the hunt for a Taiwan-based intelligence officer, according to Reuters.
- Warning signs can be subtle: a relationship that moves unusually quickly, persistent questions about sensitive business matters, requests to meet influential colleagues, or encouragement to keep secrets.
- In 2025, Anthropic appointed former CIA deputy director David Cohen and former National Security Agency cybersecurity director Dave Luber to its national security advisory council.
Eric O’Neill, a former FBI counterintelligence operative, told Fortune ‘s Tatiana Sataua this week that protecting executives should include teaching them to recognize manipulation —and giving others a way to intervene when the boss won’t listen.
Additional details
- Revelio data compiled by Reuters shows that Anthropic alone has hired 33 employees for counterintelligence functions so far this year, up from 14 last year, and nine in 2024.
- “There are some very sophisticated people out of government thinking about security for these businesses… Demand outstrips the supply of people with relevant experience.” Top tech firms are looking for even more talent.
- Sources told the Washington Post last month that the Pentagon is planning a spying program that deploys “nonofficial cover officers” who pose as executives—a covert effort in a larger economic warfare campaign.
- “By the time a security professional raises concerns, the executive may already be emotionally invested and unwilling to listen,” O’Neill said.
- The Technology Support Office was established in April by reorganizing two classified intelligence programs that have been secretly carrying out technology sabotage at a smaller scale since 2023.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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