AI WARS
Why Google keeps losing its best people.
In Silicon Valley, job titles are temporary. But equity is forever.
Google has been an obvious leader in the AI revolution. They’ve recruited and cultivated some of the best minds in the game. Their compensation is wildly competitive. And those gourmet lunches? Swoon worthy. Yet, all of these perks weren’t enough to keep employees from drifting.
Over the past few weeks, Google has watched top talent walk out the door and into the arms of their competitors.
At first glance, it’s easy to assume that this exodus is due to a fractured AI strategy or a misaligned company culture. But the reason may be something much simpler:
As OpenAI and Anthropic race toward Wall St, top players from established companies – like Google – are making the jump to the rapidly rising startups.
The recent departures
Noam Shazeer joined OpenAI, which has filed for IPO this month
Nobel Prize winner, John Jumper, left for Anthropic
Gemini researchers Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel are also headed to Anthropic
How startups outbid tech giants
Labs like Anthropic and OpenAI are able to offer equity before they go public. Whereas Google’s compensation package includes RSUs – Restricted Stock Options – tied to a $4T market cap. Which, by their very nature, are… restricted.
So when a world-class AI engineer is given the option to pivot to a more agile competitor, the offer is pretty enticing. Especially when the pre-IPO equity could drastically increase their net worth.
And make no mistake, this revolving door is an issue for the tech giants. Because in the AI race, a company’s roster is a competitive advantage you can't manufacture overnight.
Google may have lost this battle of the talent wars. But the fight is still far from over.
These bros ain’t loyal. - TL