I mean maybe the super smart person will work at GOOG/META/Netflix to do some absolutely ground breaking work stuffing ads and slop pixels into as many ocular nerves as possible.
However, I could see a smart person taking an "underpaid" (SpaceX SWE: ~$200-400k pre-IPO) to do the following:
Neuralink: to see the impact of increased independence and autonomy of a paraplegic one day after the operation
SpaceX: to quite literally approach the final frontier. Currently launches 80-90% of all orbital mass. Starlink is saving lives constantly.
Tesla: to kickstart the EV revolution and reduce fossil fuel dependence
Boring Company: to radically decrease tunneling costs applicable to all sorts of critical urban problems from transportation to utilities etc
Neuralink: to see the impact of increased independence and autonomy of a paraplegic one day after the operation
SpaceX: to quite literally approach the final frontier. Currently launches 80-90% of all orbital mass. Starlink is saving lives constantly.
Tesla: to kickstart the EV revolution and reduce fossil fuel dependence
Boring Company: to radically decrease tunneling costs applicable to all sorts of critical urban problems from transportation to utilities etc