Google is witnessing another high-profile departure as John Jumper, Vice President at Google DeepMind and a 2024 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, has announced he is leaving the company to join Anthropic PBC. Jumper, who shared the Nobel Prize with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis for their groundbreaking work on AlphaFold, an AI model that predicts protein structures, will be moving to the AI safety and research company after a brief period of rest.
Jumper's Contributions at Google DeepMind
Over nearly nine years at Google DeepMind, Jumper played a pivotal role in advancing AI for scientific discovery. He led the AlphaFold team, which revolutionized biology by accurately predicting protein structures from amino acid sequences. His work has been instrumental in positioning Google as a leader in AI-driven scientific research. Jumper holds a PhD in theoretical chemistry from the University of Chicago and was a Marshall Scholar at the University of Cambridge in 2007.
Announcement on Social Media
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Jumper expressed his gratitude: "A bit of news: After nearly 9 years, I have decided to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic (after taking some time to recharge). I am incredibly grateful for my time at GDM @demishassabis took a real chance letting me lead the AlphaFold team just six months after finishing my PhD, and the entire GDM team taught me so much about how to do great science. GDM is a special place, and I'll still be excited to hear about what amazing things they discover next."
Google DeepMind confirmed his departure, thanking him for his contributions to advancing science and AI. CEO Demis Hassabis responded warmly: "Thanks John for an extraordinary partnership and wonderful collaboration over the past 9 years! What we achieved with AlphaFold changed the world, and showed the field what was possible with AI for science and medicine, lighting the way for how AI can benefit humanity."
Another Top Exit: Noam Shazeer Joins OpenAI
Jumper's exit follows closely on the heels of Noam Shazeer, a prominent Google researcher and VP of Engineering, who announced he is leaving to join OpenAI. Shazeer, co-lead of the Gemini project, co-authored a seminal paper that helped spark the AI boom. He previously worked at Google from 2000 to 2021, served as CEO of Character.ai from 2021 to 2024, and returned to Google before his latest move. A licensing deal between Google and Character.ai was finalized in the same month.
In his announcement on X, Shazeer wrote: "I'm excited to share that I'll be joining OpenAI and look forward to working with the exceptional team there. It was a difficult decision to move on. I'm incredibly proud of the amazing team at Google and everything we've built together. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with all of you."
Impact on Google's AI Leadership
These departures highlight a trend of top AI talent leaving Google for competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI. Both Jumper and Shazeer were instrumental in key projects, and their moves could reshape the competitive landscape in AI research and development. Google DeepMind continues to be a powerhouse, but the loss of such influential figures may prompt the company to reassess its retention strategies.
