Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who defected to OpenAI, is now at Google
Barret Zoph's lab-hopping year: Thinking Machines → OpenAI → Google. What it signals about the talent war.
Why it matters
Senior AI researcher movements between frontier labs reflect shifting competitive positioning and technical strategy priorities. Zoph's trajectory — co-founder exit to OpenAI then to Google in under a year — signals either strategic repositioning at the frontier or instability in lab leadership.
The key facts
9 to knowBarret Zoph co-founded Thinking Machines Lab with Mira Murati
Zoph served as Thinking Machines CTO
Left Thinking Machines for OpenAI
Now at Google after brief OpenAI tenure
Timeline: multiple lab moves within ~12 months suggests rapid strategic shifts or individual role/culture misalignment
Served as Thinking Machines CTO
Brief tenure at OpenAI
Now at Google
Timeline: co-founder → OpenAI → Google (compressed timeframe suggests strategic churn or conflict)
Go to the source
TechCrunch AItechcrunch.com
Publisher excerpt: Zoph, who co-founded Thinking Machines Lab alongside Mira Murati and also served as the startup's CTO, led a brief stint at OpenAI and is now at Google.