Google DeepMind Talent Exodus: Top Researchers Defect to Both Anthropic and OpenAI in One Week

CNBC·medium signal

Jumper's departure to Anthropic comes just days after Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer said he would leave for IPO-bound OpenAI — Google losing two of its most senior AI figures to its two biggest rivals in the same week. The contrast (one to Anthropic, one to OpenAI) signals DeepMind's deteriorating ability to retain frontier talent as the IPO race heats up; notably, Google reportedly paid ~$2.7B to bring Shazeer back from Character.AI less than two years ago.