AI researchers continue to leave Google for its rivals

<p id="speakable-summary" class="wp-block-paragraph">Top AI researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are leaving Google for Anthropic, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-24/google-poised-to-lose-two-more-high-profile-ai-staffers-to-anthropic" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Bloomberg</a>. Per the report, Adler and Pritzel played key roles in the development of Google’s Gemini model.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">TechCrunch reached out to Google for comment.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">These departures are part of a concerning trend for Google. Last week, legendary AI researcher <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/02/character-ai-ceo-noam-shazeer-returns-to-google/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Noam Shazeer</a>
<a href="https://x.com/NoamShazeer/status/2067400851438932297" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">announced</a> that he was <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/18/openai-is-bringing-on-some-big-guns-in-the-lead-up-to-its-ipo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leaving Google</a> for OpenAI. Shazeer had been at Google since 2000, save for the three years he spent building his <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/google-and-character-ai-negotiate-first-major-settlements-in-teen-chatbot-death-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">controversial</a> chatbot startup, Character.AI (which Google effectively acqui-hired for $2.7 billion, in part to bring Shazeer back to work on Gemini).</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Just days after Shazeer made his announcement, Google DeepMind director <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/20/nobel-laureate-john-jumper-is-leaving-deepmind-for-rival-anthropic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John Jumper</a> said he was leaving Google for Anthropic. Alongside DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Jumper won the 2024 <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/09/deepminds-demis-hassabis-and-john-jumper-scoop-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-for-alphafold/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nobel Prize in Chemistry</a> for his work on AlphaFold, which can predict 3D protein structures from animo acid sequences.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As OpenAI and Anthropic <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/14/as-ai-companies-race-to-go-public-who-else-is-along-for-the-ride/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prepare to go public</a>, this trend could continue — it’s a great time for the companies to recruit top AI talent with a promise of equity.</p>