Google DeepMind Loses Nobel Winner John Jumper to Anthropic

Google DeepMind Vice President John Jumper, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on artificial intelligence, is leaving the company to join Anthropic.

"After nearly 9 years, I have decided to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic," Jumper posted on X. "Demis Hassabis [DeepMind CEO] took a real chance letting me lead the AlphaFold team just six months after finishing my PhD," he added, referring to DeepMind's chief executive.

Jumper has been a key member of Google's AI coding development team. His departure adds to the strain on Google's efforts to compete with Anthropic, OpenAI and Elon Musk's SpaceX in building powerful AI models, according to a report by Bloomberg. The report said Google has struggled to sell AI coding tools to businesses, citing former employees.

Employees and executives at DeepMind have also raised concerns in recent months that the company lacks a clear solution for businesses seeking AI coding tools, an area that has become a key focus for Anthropic and OpenAI and has driven momentum for both companies, Bloomberg reported.

A spokesperson for Google DeepMind reportedly confirmed Jumper's departure and said the company was grateful for his contributions to its work in advancing science and AI. An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed Jumper will be joining the company.

"Thanks John for an extraordinary partnership and wonderful collaboration over the past 9 years," Hassabis wrote on X. "What we achieved with AlphaFold changed the world, and showed the field what was possible with AI for science and medicine, lighting the way for how AI can benefit humanity," he added.

Jumper won the chemistry Nobel Prize alongside Hassabis for creating AlphaFold, an AI model that predicts the structure of proteins.

Jumper won a Marshall Scholarship to study at Cambridge in 2007 and received a PhD in theoretical chemistry from the University of Chicago.

Other High-Profile Exits

Jumper's exit follows the departure of Noam Shazeer, one of Google's most prominent researchers, according to the report. Shazeer, a Google executive and co-lead of the Gemini AI project, has announced he is leaving the company to join OpenAI, just two years after returning in a deal that reportedly cost Google $2.7 billion.

Shazeer, who served as Vice President of Engineering and helped lead Google's Gemini artificial intelligence efforts, confirmed the move in a post on X, saying he was excited to join OpenAI and thanked his colleagues at Google for their support over the years.

His departure has drawn significant attention across the artificial intelligence industry, particularly because Google struck a $2.7 billion licensing agreement with Character.AI in 2024 that helped bring him back to the company. Reports at the time suggested that securing Shazeer's return was one of the key reasons behind the deal.

Shazeer co-authored a seminal paper that helped catalyse the AI boom. His departure marks a significant win for OpenAI as it competes with Anthropic to develop more advanced models ahead of their respective initial public offerings.