Noam Shazeer, who worked at Google on the Gemini project, has joined OpenAI.
Shazeer, who served as co-lead on Google’s flagship Gemini initiative, has left the company after multiple stints, including a return to DeepMind in 2024. He previously departed Google in 2021 to co-found the startup Character.AI with colleague Daniel De Freitas, before rejoining the tech giant less than two years ago.
In a post on X, Shazeer confirmed the move, expressing gratitude for his time at Google and pride in the team’s achievements. He said he is excited to join OpenAI’s team and work on building advanced AI systems.
The high-profile departure highlights the fierce competition for top AI talent between leading tech companies. It comes just days after Google announced new versions of its Gemini models, including Gemini 3.5 Flash and the intelligent agent Gemini Spark.
Shazeer’s exit marks his second departure from Google in recent years and continues a noticeable trend of talent movement between major AI labs.
