Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who defected to OpenAI, is now at Google
Ah, marvellous. Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder who apparently treats AI startups like a holiday let, is now at Google — his third employer in under two years, if you're counting. According to TechCrunch, Zoph has 'found yet another job,' which is corporate-speak for 'he did it again.' He spent two years at OpenAI, left in October 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines with Mira Murati, then scurried back to OpenAI earlier this year, and now Google gets its turn. TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI and Google for comment, presumably to receive one of those 'we don't comment on personnel matters' emails generated by an AI that has learned nothing from its colleagues.
The exquisite comedy here is the word 'defected.' In any other industry, moving between companies is called 'taking a new role.' In AI, it's a geopolitical act, because the entire frontier is a cartel of about four labs playing musical chairs with the same dozen research names. Zoph's resume now reads like a Tinder profile for a serial monogamist: OpenAI, Thinking Machines, OpenAI, Google — with each transition announced breathlessly by trade press as if the fate of humanity hinged on which campus he stores his laptop at. The fact that he co-founded Thinking Machines with Mira Murati and then left earlier this year suggests the 'mission-driven startup' was really a waiting room.
What's the takeaway? The talent market is sending a clear signal: no one believes any single lab is where the future will be built, so everyone is hedging by rotating through all of them. That's terrible for long-term research — you can't build a superintelligence if your top people are in a permanent state of onboarding. But don't worry: Google, OpenAI, and Thinking Machines will all issue cheerful statements about how Zoph's 'unique expertise' contributes to their 'shared mission,' while he quietly negotiates his next move. At this rate, his next defection will be announced before TechCrunch has finished publishing this one.