According to CNBC, John Jumper, a senior scientist at Google DeepMind who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for AlphaFold, announced on the 19th that he is leaving to join AI startup Anthropic. Following the departure of the co-heads of Gemini, Google has lost another key figure, highlighting that the battle for AI talent among tech giants has fully intensified.
(Prior context: AI giants such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind will attend the G7 summit)
(Background: Peter Thiel’s secret society Dialog membership list leaked, including Musk, Trump’s son-in-law, former Google CEO, Silicon Valley founders, and the U.S. Treasury Secretary)
The global talent war in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector is intensifying. According to a recent report by CNBC on June 19, 2026, John Jumper, a senior research scientist and key figure at DeepMind, Google’s AI research division, has officially announced his departure and is set to join Anthropic, a prominent AI startup founded by former OpenAI members.
Nobel laureate bids farewell to nine-year employer
John Jumper is highly esteemed in the AI and scientific communities. He and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis jointly received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the groundbreaking AI model AlphaFold, which successfully predicted over 200 million protein structures, dramatically accelerating biological and medical research and widely regarded by the scientific community as the pinnacle of AI applications in science.
Jumper personally confirmed the departure on X (formerly Twitter): “After nearly nine years at Google DeepMind, I’ve decided to leave and join Anthropic (after taking some time off). I’m incredibly grateful for my time at GDM—it’s a special place, and I’ll continue to follow their future amazing discoveries.” In response, Hassabis generously offered his congratulations, replying with high praise: “We changed the world with AlphaFold, showing how AI can benefit humanity.”
A bit of news: After nearly 9 years, I have decided to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic (after taking some time to recharge). I am incredibly grateful for my time at GDM. @demishassabis took a real chance letting me lead the AlphaFold team just six months after finishing…
— John Jumper (@JohnJumperSci) June 19, 2026
Google loses key personnel as the AI talent war intensifies
This shocking leadership shift is not an isolated incident. Just days ago, Noam Shazeer, co-lead and vice president of Google’s Gemini model, announced his departure from Google to join rival OpenAI. The consecutive exits of two key leaders highlight that Google is facing unprecedented challenges in retaining top scientists.
Currently, tech giants such as Meta and Alphabet (Google’s parent company), along with high-valued AI startups like Anthropic and OpenAI, are fiercely competing to attract top talent in order to accelerate the development of the next generation of AI systems. Jumper’s move, as a VP and Engineering Fellow at Google DeepMind, is undoubtedly a major boost for Anthropic.
Anthropic has not yet disclosed details about the new position.
In response to this major personnel shakeup, a Google DeepMind spokesperson issued a statement thanking Jumper for his outstanding contributions over the years and wishing him all the best in his future endeavors. As of the publication of this report, Anthropic has not yet responded immediately to details regarding Jumper’s upcoming new role, but industry observers expect more information about its strategic plans to be revealed at Anthropic’s scheduled scientific event on June 30. This AI arms race, which concerns the future of humanity, will undoubtedly face increased uncertainty due to the shifting landscape of top talent.
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