Barret Zoph, a co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab, is joining Google DeepMind as vice president of research, according to multiple reports. Several outlets say he left Thinking Machines after an abrupt departure connected to a conflict with CEO Mira Murati. The reports also describe Zoph’s later move to OpenAI as short-lived, lasting less than six months, before he transitions to Google.
The sources broadly agree on Zoph’s role and timeline—co-founding Thinking Machines, serving in a leadership capacity there, departing for OpenAI, and then moving to Google DeepMind. Times of India adds detail that the Thinking Machines exit followed a fight with Murati, and that at Google DeepMind he will focus on reinforcement learning and post-training research. The Wall Street Journal frames the move in the context of Google losing other high-profile researchers recently. Other outlets primarily confirm the appointment without emphasizing specific reasons or project priorities.
