Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who defected to OpenAI, is now at Google
Zoph, who co-founded Thinking Machines Lab alongside Mira Murati and also served as the startup's CTO, led a brief stint at OpenAI and is now at Google.
The story of AI executives jumping from one company to another continues with Barret Zoph, a co-founder of Thinking Machines. Zoph left the company earlier this year to join OpenAI, but only lasted five months before returning to OpenAI in January 2024 as co-founder alongside Mira Murati. Zoph then departed once again from Thinking Machines and returned to OpenAI, only to leave the company in June 2024.
Following his most recent stint at OpenAI, Zoph has now taken on a new role as vice president of research at Google, a company where he previously held a position. Google has expressed enthusiasm about Zoph's return, believing his research and post-training expertise will benefit their Gemini project. The high turnover rate in the AI industry, particularly at OpenAI, has left many wondering about the frequent changes in leadership and key personnel within the tech giant.
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