DeepMind Exodus: Top AI Talent Leaves, Google Shares Drop

Google DeepMind is losing top AI talent, raising questions about its position in the AI race. A stream of well-known researchers have departed recently. Some, like David Silver, an early employee and reinforcement learning expert, are launching their own startups. Others are joining DeepMind's rivals. This past week, two Google DeepMind stars left within 48 hours. Noam Shazeer, who helped build Google's earliest chatbot system, LaMDA, is now going to OpenAI. Shazeer had previously cofounded Character.ai after leaving Google, and was lured back in 2024 before leaving again. Just days after Shazeer's departure, researcher John Jumper announced he is joining Anthropic. Jumper shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work creating AlphaFold. News of these departures sent Google shares tumbling more than 5% on Monday. This trend could impact Google's future in AI development.