John Jumper, a senior research scientist at Google DeepMind, has announced that he is leaving the company and will join AI startup Anthropic. CNBC reported that Jumper, who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis for work on AlphaFold, confirmed the move on June 19.
Departure follows nearly nine years at DeepMind
In a post on X, Jumper said he had decided to leave Google DeepMind after nearly nine years and would join Anthropic after taking a short break. He described DeepMind as a special place and said he would continue watching the team’s future discoveries.
Hassabis responded publicly with a message of support, saying their work on AlphaFold changed the world and showed how AI can benefit humanity. AlphaFold remains one of the best-known examples of AI applied to science. According to the report, the model has predicted more than 200 million protein structures, cutting the time required for biological and medical research.
Another high-profile Google AI exit
The move comes just days after another notable departure from Google. Noam Shazeer, identified in the report as a co-lead of the Gemini model and a vice president at Google, had also announced that he was leaving Google to join OpenAI. Two senior AI figures exiting within days points to a sharper talent fight between major tech groups and well-funded AI startups.
The report names Meta, Alphabet, Anthropic, and OpenAI among the companies competing to build the next generation of AI systems. In that contest, elite researchers carry unusual weight. Jumper had held an engineering fellow-level role at Google DeepMind, and his move is likely to draw attention to Anthropic’s scientific ambitions.
Anthropic has not released role details
As of the time of publication, Anthropic had not provided details on Jumper’s new position. A Google DeepMind spokesperson thanked him for his years of contribution and wished him well. Attention is now turning to Anthropic’s planned science event on June 30, where the company may disclose more about its direction and personnel plans.