Google Vice President of Engineering and co-founder of Gemini AI models, Noam Shazeer, is leaving Google to join OpenAI. Shazeer announced this on X, saying it was a tough decision but he was really excited about working with the OpenAI team.
He said it was an extremely hard decision for him and his team to leave and he felt proud to work with them, describing it as a privilege.
Google issued a brief statement to thank him for his efforts and wish him success in his future work. Notably not mentioned was the $2.7 billion investment made less than two years ago to rehire him.
Who is Noam Shazeer?
Shazeer's work with Google started in 2000. He is one of the eight co-authors of the seminal paper of 2017 entitled "Attention Is All You Need," which defines transformer architecture for most important AI models, including ChatGPT and Gemini.
After Google refused to develop a chatbot with his colleague Daniel De Freitas, Shazeer left in 2021 to co-found Character.AI, a conversational AI startup that quickly attracted millions of users to interact with AI-powered characters. In September 2023, Time Magazine named Shazeer as one of the 100 most influential figures in artificial intelligence.
The story took an unexpected turn when Google rehired Shazeer in August 2024 along with De Freitas for DeepMind as part of a partnership with Character.AI. He assumed the position of VP of Engineering and co-lead for Google's flagship AI model Gemini. Just over 18 months later, he will shift to OpenAI.
Financial Aspects: Salary, $2.7 Billion Deal & Net Worth
The financial side of Shazeer's career is interesting. According to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Google spent $2.7 billion in 2024 to bring him and his team back from Character.AI in what was formally referred to as a licensing agreement for Character.AI's technology, but it was evident that Shazeer's expertise was key.
His equity stake in Character.AI reportedly yielded between $750 million and $1 billion from this deal. Estimates of his total net worth are well into the hundreds of millions due largely to his ownership in Character.AI and his financial arrangements with Google. His exact salary at Google remains undisclosed.
Shazeer is moving to OpenAI at a moment of high focus for the company as it is preparing for an IPO and is in competition for top AI talent. Hiring a co-inventor of transformer architecture just before the company goes public is significant. For Google, losing Shazeer again after so much investment is a big blow, but this is a sign that the competition for top talent in AI is very keen.