Google loses more top AI researchers to Anthropic and OpenAI

Google is experiencing a wave of departures among its most prominent AI researchers, with top talent moving to rival companies Anthropic and OpenAI.

Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel, both instrumental in developing Google's Gemini model, are joining Anthropic, according to Bloomberg. This follows two other significant exits: legendary researcher Noam Shazeer departed for OpenAI after 26 years at Google, and Nobel laureate John Jumper moved from Google DeepMind to Anthropic.

The shifting talent landscape#

Jumper's move is particularly notable—he won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis for developing AlphaFold, a breakthrough tool for predicting 3D protein structures. Shazeer, who had built the controversial chatbot startup Character.AI before Google brought him back (acquiring the company for $2.7 billion), announced his OpenAI move just last week.

As OpenAI and Anthropic prepare for public offerings, both companies are leveraging equity compensation to attract proven talent—a competitive advantage that may accelerate further departures from Google's ranks.