Who are the researchers leaving Google and where are they going?

Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic. They were key developers of Google's Gemini model. Additionally, Noam Shazeer recently left for OpenAI and John Jumper left for Anthropic.

Why is this trend happening now?

As OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public, these companies can recruit top AI talent with promises of equity, making it an attractive time for researchers to join them.

What is John Jumper known for?

John Jumper won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis for his work on AlphaFold, which can predict 3D protein structures from amino acid sequences. He was Google DeepMind's director before departing for Anthropic.

Back to articles

Top AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, continuing a streak of departures that includes Noam Shazeer to OpenAI and John Jumper to Anthropic.

TechCrunch AI1d ago4 min read

Key takeaway

Top AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, marking the latest in a series of high-profile departures that also includes Noam Shazeer moving to OpenAI and John Jumper (a 2024 Nobel Prize winner) joining Anthropic. The exodus comes as OpenAI and Anthropic prepare for public offerings, positioning them to attract talent with equity compensation.

Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.

3 Key Points

What happened
AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel, who played key roles in developing Google's Gemini model, are leaving Google for Anthropic. This follows recent departures of Noam Shazeer to OpenAI and John Jumper (a 2024 Nobel Prize winner for his work on AlphaFold) to Anthropic.
Why it matters
Google is losing core talent in AI research to competitors at a moment when OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing to go public. The departures suggest these rival companies can now offer equity incentives that may be more attractive to top researchers than staying at Google.
What to watch
Noam Shazeer had been at Google since 2000, except for three years building Character.AI, which Google acquired for $2.7 billion（約4300億円） in part to bring him back to work on Gemini. This underscores the scale of investment Google has made in these researchers, now departing to competitors.

FAQ

Who are the researchers leaving Google and where are they going?: Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic. They were key developers of Google's Gemini model. Additionally, Noam Shazeer recently left for OpenAI and John Jumper left for Anthropic.
Why is this trend happening now?: As OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public, these companies can recruit top AI talent with promises of equity, making it an attractive time for researchers to join them.
What is John Jumper known for?: John Jumper won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis for his work on AlphaFold, which can predict 3D protein structures from amino acid sequences. He was Google DeepMind's director before departing for Anthropic.

Discussion

No discussion yet for this article

Stay ahead with AI news

Get curated AI news from 200+ sources delivered daily to your inbox. Free to use.

Get Started Free

Free · takes 30 seconds · unsubscribe anytime

5 minutes a day. The AI essentials.

200+ sources · Email / LINE / Slack

Get it free →