One of Google's top researchers, Noam Shazeer, has left the company to join rival OpenAI, marking a significant blow to Alphabet Inc. in the multibillion-dollar AI race.
Shazeer, who co-authored a groundbreaking paper that helped fuel the AI boom, announced his departure on X, where he expressed his excitement to work with OpenAI's exceptional team.
As lead for AI architecture research, Shazeer will study how to build more sophisticated models at OpenAI, which is competing with Anthropic PBC ahead of an initial public offering.
Shazeer's departure comes at a crucial time for Google, which is competing with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's SpaceX in the AI industry.
Google's stock has soared in recent months due to its role in developing AI models, chips, and consumer apps, but the company has fallen behind in selling AI coding tools to businesses.
