Nobel laureate John Jumper leaves DeepMind for Anthropic
John Jumper, Vice President of Google DeepMind and recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his contributions to artificial intelligence, is departing the company to take a position at Anthropic PBC. Jumper has been a pivotal figure within Google’s AI coding development team, and his exit exacerbates the challenges facing the tech giant as it strives to outpace competitors such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the pursuit of creating the most advanced AI models. According to former employees, Google has encountered difficulties in marketing its AI coding tools to businesses.
Employees and executives at DeepMind have expressed concerns in recent months regarding the absence of a definitive solution for businesses in need of AI coding tools. This area has emerged as a primary focus for competitors Anthropic and OpenAI, contributing significantly to their recent momentum. “After nearly 9 years, I have decided to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic,” Jumper posted on X. “Demis Hassabis took a significant risk allowing me to lead the AlphaFold team just six months after completing my PhD.” A spokesperson for Google DeepMind confirmed Jumper’s departure in a statement, expressing gratitude for his contributions to DeepMind’s efforts in advancing science and AI.
An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed that Jumper will be joining the company. Jumper was awarded the chemistry Nobel in conjunction with Deepmind CEO Demis Hassabis for the development of an AI model known as AlphaFold, which is capable of predicting protein structures. “Thanks John for an extraordinary partnership and wonderful collaboration over the past 9 years,” Hassabis stated on X. “What we achieved with AlphaFold changed the world, and showed the field what was possible with AI for science and medicine, lighting the way for how AI can benefit humanity.” Jumper is departing from Deepmind following the exit of one of Google’s leading researchers, Noam Shazeer, who has transitioned to OpenAI.
Shazeer co-authored a seminal paper that played a pivotal role in catalysing the AI boom. His departure from Google represented a significant victory for OpenAI as it vies with Anthropic to advance increasingly sophisticated models ahead of their initial public offerings. Jumper was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to pursue studies at Cambridge in 2007 and subsequently earned a PhD in theoretical chemistry from the University of Chicago.
