Noam Shazeer, one of the key architects behind modern AI and a co-lead of Google’s Gemini project, is leaving Google to join OpenAI.
Shazeer, who founded chatbot startup Character.AI and co-authored the influential 2017 “Attention Is All You Need” paper, announced his departure on X, calling it a difficult decision after more than two decades at Google.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised the move, saying Shazeer is someone he has wanted to work with since the company’s earliest days.
The hire is the latest sign of the escalating battle for AI talent, with OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic competing aggressively for top researchers. Shazeer’s departure is especially notable given his central role in Google’s AI efforts and the company’s $2.7 billion deal to bring him back from Character.AI in 2024.