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yesterday

Nobel Laureate John Jumper Leaves Google DeepMind for Anthropic

The AlphaFold lead's move could concentrate top scientific talent at frontier AI startups.

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John Jumper, one of the three laureates who is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024, speaks during this year's Nobel Prize Lecture in Chemistry in Aula Magna, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, December 8, 2024. TT News Agency/Pontus Lundahl via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN.
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Google DeepMind founder and CEO Demis Hassabis (L) and John M. Jumper, a senior research scientist at DeepMind, after they won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Overview

  • Jumper announced Friday that he will leave Google DeepMind after nearly nine years and join Anthropic following a short break from work.
  • He led development of AlphaFold, the AI system that has produced more than 200 million protein-structure predictions and earned him and Demis Hassabis the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
  • Google DeepMind confirmed his departure and Hassabis publicly praised AlphaFold’s impact; Anthropic and DeepMind have not disclosed Jumper’s role or start date.
  • The hire follows other recent high-profile exits from Google’s AI teams, such as Noam Shazeer to OpenAI, and is being reported as part of a broader shift of elite researchers toward well-funded startups.
  • Anthropic is currently facing U.S. legal and regulatory pressure and is hosting a science event on June 30, so Jumper’s arrival will be watched for its effect on the company’s research priorities and on AI applications in biology and drug discovery.