Two leading AI researchers at Google are departing for competing research facilities. Noam Shazeer, a co-leader on the Gemini models project, is joining OpenAI, while John Jumper, who spearheaded the AlphaFold initiative at Google DeepMind, is moving to Anthropic.
Shazeer revealed his relocation on X in June 18. He was a co-author of the paper “Attention Is All You Need,” which presented the Transformer architecture used in many current large language models. Google rehired him in 2024 for $2.7 billion through a deal with Character.AI, appointing him as a co-lead on Gemini. However, he is departing less than two years later. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approved the hiring on X.
Jumper announced his departure after almost nine years, intending to take a break before joining Anthropic. He was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on AlphaFold, a system that forecasts protein structures. Both Google DeepMind and Anthropic verified his transition, aligning with Anthropic’s emphasis on AI for scientific purposes.
Jumper made a post on X.
Demis Hassabis took a significant risk by allowing me to head the AlphaFold team shortly after completing my PhD.
Alphabet’s stock dropped by around 5% to 6% on June 22, attributed to worries about AI investment and Google’s capacity to keep experienced AI professionals. The stock remained stable following Shazeer’s departure announcement.
Google’s AI work faces competition from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI in the field of AI coding tools, according to reports on staff departures from DeepMind. Google’s leadership has also acknowledged the company’s lag in this area, with CEO Sundar Pichai mentioning a need for more developer-facing products.
Why This Is Important
Shazeer and Jumper collaborated on technology used in the search industry today. Shazeer’s work on Transformers underpins AI Overviews and AI Mode models, while Jumper’s research demonstrated AI’s capabilities in science. The decisions made by researchers at this level can influence how investors and competitors perceive the ongoing AI development race.
Gemini, AI Overviews, and AI Mode continue to function the same way. However, this new information provides insight into how the race is perceived.
Looking to the future
Anthropic is organizing an AI for Science event on June 30, while OpenAI has confidentially applied for an IPO and has been recruiting from larger research institutions. Google’s main concern is retention, particularly in retaining senior researchers like Shazeer, who the company struggled to keep despite paying a high price to bring him back once. The key area to monitor is how Google adjusts its strategies for retaining senior talent.
Elnur/Shutterstock is the highlighted image.
