Observed Signal · Jun 24, 2026 · Hiring / Departure · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Negative
AI talent movement / Foundation models Market: Top AI Researchers Leave Google for Anthropic
Two senior AI researchers at Google, Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel, are leaving the company to join Anthropic. The pair played key roles in developing Google’s Gemini model. Their exits add to a series of recent departures from Google — including Noam Shazeer, who moved to OpenAI, and Google DeepMind director John Jumper, who also joined Anthropic — highlighting an ongoing talent shift in the foundation-model industry. With OpenAI and Anthropic preparing for public offerings, the report suggests competing labs may continue recruiting top AI talent by offering equity and other incentives. TechCrunch contacted Google for comment but the company did not provide a statement in the article.
High-profile AI researcher departures from Google to rival foundation-model labs (Anthropic, OpenAI) can shift competitive dynamics in model development; with Anthropic and OpenAI preparing IPOs, talent flows tied to equity incentives could materially affect product roadmaps and strategic positioning of major AI platforms.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google to join Anthropic.
- Adler and Pritzel played key roles in the development of Google’s Gemini model.
- Noam Shazeer recently left Google to join OpenAI.
- Google DeepMind director John Jumper also left Google for Anthropic.
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mappedGoogle DeepMind
Frontier AI lab building models, agents and scientific systems.
“Just days after Shazeer made his announcement, Google DeepMind director John Jumper said he was leaving Google for Anthropic....”
Anthropic
Foundation model company selling AI assistants and model APIs.
“Top AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, according to Bloomberg....”
Character.AI
Consumer platform for creating and chatting with AI characters.
“Shazeer had been at Google since 2000, save for the three years he spent building his controversial chatbot startup, Character.AI (which Goo...”
OpenAI
Foundation model company selling AI software, APIs and subscriptions.
“Last week, legendary AI researcher Noam Shazeer announced that he was leaving Google for OpenAI....”
Search, video, adtech and cloud giant within Alphabet.
“Top AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, according to Bloomberg....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Track Real-Time Market Signals & Shifts
Set up custom watchlists to receive automated, evidence-grounded executive digests whenever material signals or shifts occur across your tracked landscape.