Google DeepMind loses Nobel winner John Jumper to Anthropic–Here’s why

Senior research scientists and Nobel laureate, John Jumper, on Friday announced the plans to leave Google DeepMind after nine years and to join Anthropic.

Taking to X, Jumper posted, “After nearly nine years, I have decided to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic.”

The latest high-profile departure marks the major shake-up at Google's AI research and development division. This announcement came at the significant time when the big tech companies have been locked in a talent war to compete for dominance in building next-generation artificial intelligence products.

Jumper is known as the co-creator of AlphaFold and for this breakthrough he won a Nobel prize alongside Google’s Demis Hassabis. AlphaFold has revolutionised biological and medical research by predicting over 200 million protein structures.

The days earlier, Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and co-lead of its Gemini AI models, also bid farewell to the company to join OpenAI.

Hassabis responded to Jumper’s post, “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.”

Google DeepMind spokesperson also said, “We are grateful for John’s significant contributions to Google DeepMind’s work in advancing science and AI. We wish him well in his next chapter.”

This transition comes as the AI startup Anthropic navigates significant legal and regulatory challenges with the US government.

While Anthropic has not yet confirmed the hire in response to requests for comment, the company is scheduled to host a science-focused event on June 30.