Thinking Machines Lab co-founder returns to Google after OpenAI detour

Barret Zoph is back to where he started after the Thinking Machines Lab co-founder announced on X that he had returned to Google DeepMind. Zoph’s return came after a six-year detour punctuated by two stints at OpenAI and starting an AI lab with Mira Murati, who briefly replaced Sam Altman at OpenAI in 2024. 

Zoph expressed his excitement to be “joining Google DeepMind!” as vice president of research. The new Google DeepMind executive also expressed his optimism about being part of the lab’s reinforcement learning and post-training work. 

The outside perception is not as positive, though, with the AI lab appearing to be in the middle of a serious reshuffle, mostly exits, at the top.

Where has Zoph worked? 

Zoph first appeared on the map when he joined the Google Brain Residency program. After about six years as a Google Brain research scientist, Zoph jumped ship to OpenAI, where he rose to occupy the vice president of research office. 

DeepMind absorbed Google Brain in 2023.

After a dramatic year at OpenAI, Zoph left to co-found Thinking Machines Lab with Mira Murati in late 2024. He also doubled as chief technology officer at that stop.

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