Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and co-lead of its Gemini AI models, leaves the company to join OpenAI, according to multiple outlets. Shazeer announces the move himself, and reports describe him as a key figure behind Gemini and as an early contributor to technologies that underpin modern large language models. Several sources also note his background: he first joined Google in the early 2000s, later left to co-found and lead Character.AI, and then returned to Google in 2024. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly welcomes Shazeer’s hire, describing it as a long-awaited acquisition of talent. Google officials characterize the decision as difficult, with a vice president of engineering stating he is moving on after Shazeer’s departure. The announcement comes amid an ongoing competition among AI companies for specialized research and engineering talent. One outlet reports Google paid about $2.7 billion to rehire Shazeer, and other coverage frames his exit as occurring less than two years after that return. The sources agree on the main point: Shazeer’s transition from Google to OpenAI.
Google Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer leaves to join OpenAI
Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and co-lead of its Gemini AI models, leaves the company to join OpenAI, according to multiple outlets. Shazeer announces the move himself, and r...
- Noam Shazeer, Google VP of engineering and co-lead of Gemini, announces he is leaving Google.
- Shazeer is joining OpenAI, where he is welcomed by CEO Sam Altman.
- Shazeer returns to Google in 2024 after leading Character.AI, which he co-founded.
- Multiple outlets describe Shazeer as closely associated with Gemini and modern LLM research.
- The move is widely framed as part of broader competition for AI talent.
Noam Shazeer's move comes as leading AI firms compete for talent while racing to develop advanced models
3 months agoThe move comes less than two years after Google paid $2.7 billion to bring Shazeer back from his AI startup Character.AI
3 months agoNoam Shazeer, Google's Gemini co-lead and self-described inventor of the LLM revolution, is leaving for OpenAI less than two years after Google paid a reported $2.7 billion to rehire him from Character. AI. The vice president of engineering called it a "difficult decision to move on." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who pursued Shazeer for a decade, hailed the hire as "worth the wait" as the AI talent war intensifies.
3 months agoNoam Shazeer is leaving Google for OpenAI. The man widely credited as a principal architect of Google’s Gemini models and a co-author of the 2017 transformer paper that underpins virtually every modern large language model announced the move himself, on X: “I’m excited to share that I’ll be joining OpenAI and look forward to working […] This story continues at The Next Web
3 months agoHis exit comes less than two years after Google spent about $2.7 billion in a deal to bring him back to the company.
3 months agoShazeer first joined Google in 2000. He later left the company to lead Character.AI, a conversational AI startup he co-founded, before returning to Google in 2024.
3 months agoChatGPT maker OpenAI has managed to snatch one of Google's key AI brains - the behemoth's vice president of engineering and a co-lead of its Gemini AI models, Noam Shazeer
3 months agoGoogle's vice president of engineering and a co-leader of its Gemini AI models announced Wednesday he is leaving the company to join OpenAI.
3 months agoNoam Shazeer, a co-lead at Gemini and the founder of Character.AI is leaving Google to join OpenAI in the latest AI talent war move.
3 months agoVP of engineering at Google and the co-lead of Gemini, Noam Shazeer, has announced he is departing his role to work at OpenAI.
3 months ago
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