One of the most influential names in modern artificial intelligence is switching sides. Noam Shazeer, a co-author of the landmark research paper "Attention Is All You Need," is leaving Google to join OpenAI.
That 2017 paper introduced the "Transformer" architecture — the foundational technology behind today's large language models, including the systems that power chatbots like ChatGPT and Google's own Gemini. According to coverage aggregated by Bing News, Shazeer is stepping away from his role as a co-lead of Gemini, Google's flagship AI effort, to make the move.
The hire landed hard on Wall Street. CNBC's Jim Cramer described Shazeer's jump to OpenAI as a "coup," framing it as a notable win in an intensifying competition for top AI talent. Despite losing a marquee researcher, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) closed up 1.17% on the news, per the Bing News summary.
Shazeer is not the only notable addition. According to AI Insider, OpenAI also brought on Dean Ball, a former White House AI official, with the reporting tying both hires to a period ahead of a potential OpenAI IPO. InfoWorld and Computerworld both characterized the move as OpenAI getting "the attention it needs" — a nod to Shazeer's famous paper.
Why it matters: in the AI race, the scarcest resource is not computing power or data but the small number of researchers who can build frontier systems, and pulling a Transformer co-author from a direct rival signals how fierce — and personal — that talent war has become.