# Shazeer to OpenAI: After a Multi-Billion Rehire, Gemini Co-Lead Bets Pre-IPO Upside

Times of AI Desk · 2026-06-17 · Industry

[https://timesof.ai/2026/06/noam-shazeer-leaves-google-joins-openai](https://timesof.ai/2026/06/noam-shazeer-leaves-google-joins-openai)

> Transformer co-author and Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer leaves Google for OpenAI—less than two years after Google’s reported ~$2.7B Character.AI-linked return. Pre-IPO talent coup for OpenAI; high-profile setback in the Gemini race.

Frontier labs compete as much for **people who can invent architectures** as for GPUs. Losing a Transformer co-author and Gemini co-lead to a direct rival—after a multi-billion rehire—signals where elite researchers believe the next model leaps (and IPO upside) will land.

**Noam Shazeer**, a defining figure of modern deep learning and **Gemini co-lead** at Google, said he will join **OpenAI**. In an X post he called the decision difficult, praised his Google team, and said he looks forward to OpenAI’s “exceptional team.” Reuters, CNBC, and TechCrunch framed the jump as one of 2026’s largest talent shifts—especially after Google spent heavily to reclaim him from Character.AI in 2024.

## Who Shazeer is and what he said

- **Background**: Longtime Google AI researcher; co-author of the **Transformer** (“Attention Is All You Need”) paper; left Google around 2021 to co-found **Character.AI**; returned in **2024** via a deal widely reported near **$2.7 billion** that brought him back as a Gemini leader.
- **Role at Google**: VP of engineering; **co-lead of Gemini**.
- **Announcement**: June 17 X post—joining OpenAI; proud of Google team and what they built.
- **OpenAI context**: Company had confidentially filed an S-1 on June 8; Sam Altman publicly welcomed the hire in contemporaneous coverage, citing long-standing interest in working with Shazeer.

TechCrunch also noted OpenAI recruiting other policy/talent figures the same week (e.g., Dean Ball for a Strategic Futures policy role announced June 18).

## Limits

- Exact OpenAI title/comp not in the X announcement.
- ~$2.7B Character.AI-linked 2024 figure is widely reported secondary, not a Google 8-K line item in this brief.
- Impact on Gemini roadmap is inferred industry framing, not a Google product statement.

## Sources

- Noam Shazeer X announcement (June 17, 2026).
- Reuters: “Google Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to join IPO-bound OpenAI” (June 17, 2026).
- CNBC and TechCrunch coverage of the departure and OpenAI IPO-context talent moves (June 17–18, 2026).