Top AI researchers Jonas Adler, Alexander Pritzel, Noam Shazeer, and John Jumper have left Google for rivals Anthropic and OpenAI, continuing a trend of talent migration as AI companies prepare for IPOs.
Top AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, following departures from top scientists Noam Shazeer and John Jumper.
# AI researchers continue to leave Google for its rivals | TechCrunch
Source: [https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/ai-researchers-continue-to-leave-google-for-its-rivals/](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/ai-researchers-continue-to-leave-google-for-its-rivals/)
In Brief
Posted:
2:42 PM PDT · June 24, 2026
**Image Credits:**TechCrunchTop AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, according to[Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-24/google-poised-to-lose-two-more-high-profile-ai-staffers-to-anthropic)\. Per the report, Adler and Pritzel played key roles in the development of Google’s Gemini model\.
TechCrunch reached out to Google for comment\.
These departures are part of a concerning trend for Google\. Last week, legendary AI researcher[Noam Shazeer](https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/02/character-ai-ceo-noam-shazeer-returns-to-google/)[announced](https://x.com/NoamShazeer/status/2067400851438932297)that he was[leaving Google](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/18/openai-is-bringing-on-some-big-guns-in-the-lead-up-to-its-ipo/)for OpenAI\. Shazeer had been at Google since 2000, save for the three years he spent building his[controversial](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/google-and-character-ai-negotiate-first-major-settlements-in-teen-chatbot-death-cases/)chatbot startup, Character\.AI \(which Google effectively acqui\-hired for $2\.7 billion, in part to bring Shazeer back to work on Gemini\)\.
Just days after Shazeer made his announcement, Google DeepMind director[John Jumper](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/20/nobel-laureate-john-jumper-is-leaving-deepmind-for-rival-anthropic/)said he was leaving Google for Anthropic\. Alongside DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Jumper won the 2024[Nobel Prize in Chemistry](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/09/deepminds-demis-hassabis-and-john-jumper-scoop-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-for-alphafold/)for his work on AlphaFold, which can predict 3D protein structures from animo acid sequences\.
As OpenAI and Anthropic[prepare to go public](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/14/as-ai-companies-race-to-go-public-who-else-is-along-for-the-ride/), this trend could continue — it’s a great time for the companies to recruit top AI talent with a promise of equity\.
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