AI Tech / news
Barret Zoph joins Google as VP of research after brief OpenAI return
Barret Zoph, a co-founder of Thinking Machines who made a short-lived return to OpenAI earlier this year, has joined Google as vice president of research, where he will focus on reinforcement learning and post-training for Gemini.
Google confirmed the appointment, with a spokesperson saying the company looks forward to Zoph bringing his RL and post-training expertise to Gemini.
Zoph is no stranger to Google, having worked there before joining OpenAI for two years. He left OpenAI in October 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines Lab with Mira Murati, taking on the role of CTO.
In January, Zoph and fellow co-founder Luke Metz exited Thinking Machines to rejoin OpenAI. It was later revealed that Zoph had been fired from the startup, and his return to OpenAI lasted only five months. He was tasked with heading AI enterprise sales before leaving in June.
The move marks the latest chapter in a turbulent stretch for AI executives. The industry has seen elevated turnover recently, and OpenAI has lost many critical staff members over the past eight months, per reports.