Digital giants paying huge salaries for scarce AI talent

San Francisco

SILICON Valley's startups have always had a recruiting advantage over the industry's giants: Take a chance on us and we'll give you an ownership stake that could make you rich if the company is successful.

Now the tech industry's race to embrace artificial intelligence may render that advantage moot - at least for the few prospective employees who know a lot about AI.

Tech's biggest companies are placing huge bets on artificial intelligence, banking on things ranging from face-scanning smartphones and conversational coffee-table gadgets to computerised healthcare and autonomous vehicles.

As they chase this future, they are doling out salaries that are sta…