Consensus answer
Yes, Noam Shazeer left Google and its DeepMind unit to join OpenAI. He announced his departure on June 18, 2026 cnbc.
At Google, Shazeer served as a Vice President of Engineering and was a co-lead for the company's Gemini AI models investing cnbc. At OpenAI, he took on the role of lead for architecture research x.
Key Context and Background:
- AI Pioneer: Shazeer originally joined Google in 2000. He is widely recognized in the artificial intelligence field as one of the co-authors of the landmark 2017 research paper "Attention Is All You Need," which introduced the Transformer architecture and laid the foundation for modern generative AI x calcalistech.
- Second Departure: This move marked Shazeer's second time leaving Google. He previously left in 2021 alongside Daniel De Freitas to co-found the AI startup Character.AI. The pair returned to Google in August 2024 after Google absorbed the startup's team in a reported $2.7 billion deal theinformation calcalistech.
Reactions to the Move:
- OpenAI: CEO Sam Altman welcomed Shazeer, stating he was one of the people he had most wanted to work with since OpenAI's early days neowin.
- Google: The company officially acknowledged his departure, releasing a statement expressing gratitude for his "meaningful contributions to Google over the years" investing calcalistech.
Differences
1 notable difference (1 contradiction) across 5 models.
The specific date of the announcement.
The announcement occurred on June 18, 2026.
Anthropic, Grok, Mistral
“June 18, 2026”
The announcement occurred on June 17, 2026.
OpenAI
“Wednesday, June 17, 2026”
How to verify: Check the calendar for June 2026 to see which date fell on a Wednesday.
Best answerAnthropic
Sources
- 1 Google’s Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to join OpenAI By Reuters investing.com
- 2 Google Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer leaves for OpenAI cnbc.com
- 3 theinformation.com
- 4 fastcompany.com vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com
- 5 mlq.ai vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com
- 6 wikipedia.org vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com
- 7 Wes Roth on X: "Noam Shazeer is leaving Google DeepMind to join OpenAI as its new lead for architecture research. Shazeer was one of the authors of the landmark 2017 paper that introduced the Transformer, the architecture underlying most modern large language models. He also contributed to https://t x.com
- 8 Two years after a $2.7 billion return to Google, AI pioneer Noam Shazeer is leaving for OpenAI | CTech calcalistech.com
- 9 Google Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer is leaving for OpenAI - Neowin neowin.net
- 10 Noam Shazeer Leaves Google for OpenAI (June 2026) | ThePlanetTools.ai theplanettools.ai
- 11 Google AI leader Noam Shazeer leaves company for OpenAI - Fast Company fastcompany.com
- 12 Transformer Architect Behind Gemini Jumps to OpenAI After Google Spent $2.7B techtimes.com
- 13 Deepline | Transformer architect leaves Google for OpenAI: What does Shazeer's move mean for AI Race? english.dotdotnews.com
Cite this answer
consens.io. (2026-06-19). Consensus answer to "Did Noam Shazeer really leave Google DeepMind for OpenAI?". Models consulted: OpenAI, Mistral, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Grok. Consensus model: Gemini-Pro. Sources: https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/googles-gemini-colead-noam-shazeer-to-join-openai-4748809?utm_source=openai, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/18/google-gemini-co-lead-noam-shazeer-leaves-for-openai.html, https://www.theinformation.com/articles/star-google-ai-researcher-shazeer-joins-openai, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEVo--rvq5avyhyWG-1f7DiK39ZQ6SYqL-1v5JWlafQx_hsYq8A5L4DPJL3prefoVND3fQ3x6uq5q3NbT8bQIAy_N9R1sd5yA9WeZfDC3gwM9fH9L_DZbtxRVuUVecHmVp5gnq5ZIZooi-Pvi4p1t4AXzexWbsCFdwoDPjnn7zy2HLdyHOHodxLLJDd5K--G5LuDQ==, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQGyAAhdLlJjw4Tj_RjCplPwoSKfrdYEkU_TIuG8_oaOfopM-niLKSBl5phDK3lB56EIfFeapcTlrsmja3PXlccjsA6OM3FILpgheFdBDhp9D-z-OT64cUctl4Hu54oJ_oaSdBVp8ZRk2KeK-UtOmW5vw_IS3O3Di5ZkPIXaOHWdabpCZwoZUpKIf6KzBmZD_4Dby1EJthI=, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQHp5kcvELH2D84zRBxiSlxxeudDHFqSADvPkWfnFmbO2VW4Mulnm_CeMNH3b_LZUkuFnpgGVvhjbZ0unng9YxHOyA_xLKywPV1hyU2cr3liGr-LVj_YzAV_dhjtzPb6ECQ=, https://x.com/WesRoth/status/2067880068945412130, https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1je3bzzze, https://www.neowin.net/news/google-gemini-co-lead-noam-shazeer-is-leaving-for-openai/, https://theplanettools.ai/blog/noam-shazeer-leaves-google-gemini-joins-openai-2026, https://www.fastcompany.com/91562193/google-ai-leader-noam-shazeer-leaves-company-for-openai, https://www.techtimes.com/articles/318613/20260618/transformer-architect-behind-gemini-jumps-openai-after-google-spent-27b.htm, https://english.dotdotnews.com/a/202606/18/AP6a33b8efe4b09ea23318d519.html Retrieved from https://www.consens.io/s/did-noam-shazeer-really-leave-google-deepmind-for-openai-WhBlXg2oN9P4etlv
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