John Jumper, who won the Nobel Prize “for protein structure prediction”, says he is leaving Google DeepMind after nearly nine years to join Anthropic
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
@johnjumpersciJohn Jumper
Context & Ripple Effects
Jumper’s DeepMind tenure is closely associated in the coverage with leading the AlphaFold team and with recognition for protein-structure prediction. Earlier interviews also positioned his work around extending predictive AI and combining AlphaFold’s capabilities with LLMs.
The related reporting frames his move as a loss for Google’s AI coding efforts amid competition with Anthropic and OpenAI. His destination makes the departure more consequential than a routine leadership transition: a prominent research leader is moving directly to a rival lab.
First-order effects
Google DeepMind loses a long-tenured AlphaFold leader and a high-profile researcher whose work connected predictive AI with broader model development.
Anthropic gains Jumper after his recharge period, adding expertise and credibility in scientific AI and protein-structure prediction.
Second-order effects
Google may need to redistribute leadership and retain technical staff in teams whose work spans scientific AI and coding, while Anthropic can use the hire to deepen those adjacent research capabilities.
The move raises the competitive value of researchers who can bridge specialized predictive systems and general-purpose LLM work, increasing pressure on frontier labs to retain such talent.
Third-order effects
If similar moves persist, frontier-model competition will increasingly be shaped not only by compute and model releases but by the transfer of leaders with proven domain-science AI track records.
The boundary between scientific AI programs such as AlphaFold and general LLM labs may continue to blur, though this single hire does not establish what Anthropic will build or commercialize.
The trend: This is one data point in the convergence of frontier LLM development and specialized scientific AI, with senior research talent moving across the same small set of leading labs.
“Sir... John Jumper... the director of DeepMind... the co-creator of AlphaFold... the man who won the Nobel Prize with you... sir... he just announced he's leaving Google DeepMind and joining Anthropic...” [image]
Google is getting crushed. I have no idea what they are doing Alternative reading: it's over and no one is catching Anthropic and OpenAI, all top talent will defect to them
what exactly is going on at google DeepMind? in the span of two days: - noam shazeer (transformer co-author) leaves google for openai - john jumper (nobel laureate and AlphaFold lead) leaves DeepMind for anthropic i think google isn't fully aligned on what to focus on [image]
excited to welcome @JohnJumperSci to @AnthropicAI ! John's work on AlphaFold opened the door for me and many other recovering physicists to contribute to this field. we need many more “AlphaFold moments” in AI x Bio and I'm stoked to have John on board
What the fu*k!! John Jumper, one of the key figures behind AlphaFold and co-winner of the Nobel Prize alongside Demis Hassabis, is leaving Google DeepMind to join Anthropic. Huge loss for, and an insane win for Anthropic! What is happening, especially at google?
🤯 That's a bit concerning... Google is losing big AI specialists: Noam Shazeer → OpenAI John Jumper → Anthropic Given that we still haven't seen the promised Gemini 3.5 Pro, things aren't looking particularly bright for the Google empire.
If the departure of John and Noam is somehow related to the quality of the soon-to-be-released G 3.5 Pro, well, this really means that there are only 2 players left. xAI is far behind (even with Cursor under the belt), Meta is, well, doing data annotation. Anthropic has the
John Jumper is a Nobel laureate who won the 2024 Nobel Prize with Demis Hassabis. Now he's leaving Google DeepMind too, right after Noam Shazeer. What is going on at Google DeepMind? I had really high hopes for Gemini.
@JohnJumperSci , you have been a fantastic colleague. I am deeply grateful for all your invaluable contributions to the @GoogleDeepMind Science program. From the mission-focused execution on AlphaFold to the amazing Nobel ceremony- you leave us with a lot of memories. We wish
🚨 John Jumper, Nobel Prize winner is leaving Google DeepMind after 9 years to join Anthropic. Yesterday it was Noam Shazeer joining OpenAI. Today it's John Jumper joining Anthropic. What's happening 👀
Thanks John for an extraordinary partnership and wonderful collaboration over the past 9 years! What we achieved with AlphaFold changed the world, and showed the field what was possible with AI for science and medicine, lighting the way for how AI can benefit humanity.
After solving protein structure prediction, the next frontier is designing therapeutics. Foundation models has transformed language. They will transform biology next. AI for drug discovery is no longer just a niche application, it's becoming a frontier AI problem.
Anthropic gets John, Nobel prize winner with Sir Demis for creating AlphaFold. And OpenAI gets Noam, creator of the transformer architecture. I love how this timeline feels like a movie 🍿
jumper shared the nobel with demis hassabis for alphafold ... and now half of that prize-winning duo is leaving hassabis's own lab for anthropic. that's two weeks after noam shazeer walked out for openai [embedded post]