Jumper, who received a Nobel prize alongside Google’s Demis Hassabis in 2024, is renowned as the co-creator of AlphaFold, a revolutionary AI that has forecasted over 200 million protein structures, significantly accelerating biological and medical research.
“After nearly nine years, I’ve made the decision to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic,” Jumper shared in a post on X.
A bit of news: After nearly 9 years, I have decided to leave Google DeepMind and join Anthropic (after taking some time to recharge). I am incredibly grateful for my time at GDM. @demishassabis took a real chance letting me lead the AlphaFold team just six months after finishing…
— John Jumper (@JohnJumperSci) June 19, 2026
Tech giants like Meta and Alphabet, alongside emerging AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, are engaged in an intense competition for top talent, striving to develop cutting-edge AI systems.
“The demand for specialized AI research talent is so high that pioneering AI research labs are prepared to go to great lengths to recruit them. This gives OpenAI and Anthropic an edge over larger firms like Google, as they can offer less bureaucracy and a more concentrated focus on achieving Superintelligence,” stated D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria.
Jumper’s unexpected departure follows shortly after Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and co-lead of its Gemini AI models, announced his own exit to join IPO-bound OpenAI.
“What we achieved with AlphaFold transformed the world and demonstrated the potential of AI in science and medicine, paving the way for how AI can serve humanity,” Hassabis commented in a reply to Jumper’s post.
Jumper holds the title of VP, Engineering Fellow, at Google DeepMind, per his LinkedIn profile. He is transitioning to Anthropic at a time when the startup faces a significant legal and regulatory challenge from the U.S. government.
Anthropic is set to host a science event on June 30. The startup has yet to respond to a Reuters inquiry about Jumper’s new position.
In his X post, Jumper referred to Google DeepMind as a ”special place” and expressed his ongoing interest in its forthcoming breakthroughs.
”We are thankful for John’s substantial contributions to Google DeepMind’s advancements in science and AI. We wish him success in his next endeavor,” a Google DeepMind representative stated in an email to Reuters.
