Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Quits Google, Joins OpenAI Before IPO
Noam Shazeer, Google’s vp of engineering and co-lead of its Gemini AI fashions, introduced on June 18 that he’s leaving the corporate to affix OpenAI.
The departure lands lower than two years after Google paid a reported $2.7 billion to carry Shazeer again from Character.AI, the startup he co-founded after leaving Google in 2021.
A Costly Exit for Google
Shazeer, who first joined Google in 2000, is likely one of the most consequential researchers in trendy AI. He co-authored the landmark 2017 paper “Attention Is All You Need.” That paper launched the Transformer structure underlying nearly each main language mannequin in the present day.
The information was confirmed by Shazeer on X, and Google made a short assertion: “We are grateful for Noam’s significant contributions to Google over time.”
Timing Raises Stakes for OpenAI’s IPO Push
The transfer comes as OpenAI pushes forward with plans for a public providing. The firm confidentially filed an S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are advising on an inventory that might exceed $1 trillion.
Adding Shazeer to its roster strengthens OpenAI’s technical credibility at a delicate second. The firm has confronted rising strain from rivals. For occasion, Anthropic is gaining floor in enterprise markets and competing in a crowded 2026 IPO wave alongside SpaceX.
Whether Shazeer’s arrival shifts product momentum forward of the general public itemizing is a query traders will seemingly watch intently.
The submit Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Quits Google, Joins OpenAI Before IPO appeared first on BeInCrypto.