Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer leaves Google for OpenAI

Noam Shazeer—co-author of the seminal 'Attention Is All You Need' transformer paper and a foundational figure in modern large language models—is leaving Google to join OpenAI, according to reports from CNBC, Reuters and Business Insider on June 18. Shazeer most recently served as a VP of engineering and co-lead of the Gemini model family, the centerpiece of Google's frontier AI strategy. His departure lands at a delicate moment: OpenAI is reportedly preparing an IPO, and securing a marquee researcher of Shazeer's stature is both a recruiting coup and a morale signal.

The backstory underscores how mobile elite AI talent has become. Shazeer left Google in 2021 to co-found Character.AI with Daniel De Freitas; in 2024 Google effectively reabsorbed both founders, paying a reported multi-billion-dollar sum for non-exclusive rights to Character.AI's technology and bringing the pair back in-house. Roughly two years later, Shazeer is on the move again—this time to Google's most direct rival.

Sam Altman amplified the news on X, writing 'noam is one of the people I have most wanted to work with since the very beginning of openai. only took 10 years. i think it will be worth the wait!' The post drew over 3,500 likes within hours, framing the hire as a long-sought win. For Google, losing a Gemini co-lead just as the model line is gaining share against ChatGPT is a competitive sting, raising questions about retention inside DeepMind and the broader Gemini org.

Watch for whether Shazeer's move triggers further departures, what equity or compensation structure OpenAI used to land him ahead of an IPO, and how Google reorganizes Gemini leadership. The defection crystallizes 2026's defining backdrop: the labs are now competing as fiercely for people as for benchmarks.