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AI Executive Barret Zoph Moves from OpenAI to Google

By PulseAugur Editorial · [2 sources] ·

Barret Zoph, a co-founder of the AI startup Thinking Machines, has moved to Google after a brief return to OpenAI. Zoph initially left Thinking Machines to rejoin OpenAI, where he was reportedly tasked with leading AI enterprise sales. However, his tenure at OpenAI was short-lived, lasting only five months before he transitioned to Google. At Google, Zoph will serve as vice president of research, focusing on Reinforcement Learning and post-training expertise for Gemini. AI

IMPACT Highlights the high turnover and competitive landscape among top AI talent.

RANK_REASON Executive movement between major AI companies.

Read on Mastodon — mastodon.social →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 2 sources. How we write summaries →

AI Executive Barret Zoph Moves from OpenAI to Google

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39 / 100
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Executive movement between major AI companies.
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COVERAGE [2]

  1. TechCrunch AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Lucas Ropek ·

    Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who defected to OpenAI, is now at Google

    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.

  2. Mastodon — mastodon.social TIER_1 English(EN) · [email protected] ·

    Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who defected to OpenAI, is now at Google https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/27/barret-zoph-the-thinking-machines-co-fo

    Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who defected to OpenAI, is now at Google https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/27/barret-zoph-the-thinking-machines-co-founder-who-defected-to-openai-is-now-at-google/ # AI # Tech # OpenSource

    LINKS techcrunch.com/…/barret-zoph-the-thinking…

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