Google to lose 2 more AI researchers to Anthropic
What's the story
Google is set to lose two of its top artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel, to rival firm Anthropic, as per a Bloomberg report. The duo was instrumental in the development of Google's Gemini AI model. Their departure comes as a major blow to the tech giant's position in the highly competitive AI space.
Research impact
Departure of researchers comes amid exodus at Google
Adler was a key player in Google's AI coding project, while Pritzel played a major role in training artificial intelligence systems. Their work has been critical to the company's progress in the field. The departure of these two researchers comes just days after Nobel laureate John Jumper and star researcher Noam Shazeer left Google for Anthropic and OpenAI, respectively.
Company statement
'We win our fair share of the top talent'
In light of the recent departures, a Google spokesperson said the company is confident in its ability to attract and retain top talent. The representative highlighted remarks made by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis earlier this week. "There's a lot of talent movement between all the leading labs and we win our fair share of the top talent," Hassabis had said at an event in Cannes.
Market moves
Anthropic's aggressive recruitment and expansion plans
Anthropic, a competitor and collaborator of Google, has been aggressively recruiting talent from the tech giant. An industry study by venture capital firm SignalFire found DeepMind engineers are nearly 11 times more likely to leave for Anthropic than vice versa. The Claude maker is also exploring life sciences and healthcare applications to expand its technology's reach. Recently, it raised funds at a $965 billion valuation and is considering an IPO later this fall.