Who left Google DeepMind in 2026

AlphaGo co-creator Thore Graepel leaves DeepMind to found Metis Reasoning

Thore Graepel → to Metis Reasoning, Founder, from Google DeepMind

A key AlphaGo builder bets outside investors will fund AI reasoning work beyond large language models.

foundingreportedSep 24, 2026PYMNTS: DeepMind Alumni Draw Investors Beyond Large Language Models

Josh Engels departs Google DeepMind safety research for METR

Josh Engels → to METR, Researcher, from Google DeepMind

Engels turns down rival offers from Anthropic and OpenAI to join METR instead, betting that evaluating every frontier lab from outside beats building inside any single one.

hireconfirmedSep 10, 2026NBC News: Two AI researchers leave Anthropic and Google over safety concerns: 'There are no adults in the room'

Quoc Le → to Discovery Loop as Co-Founder

Le joins the Discovery Loop founding team, betting his AutoML pedigree translates into automated scientific discovery.

foundingconfirmedAug 5, 2026TechCrunch: Jeff Dean and Other Top AI Researchers Are Leaving Google to Launch Their Own Startup

Oriol Vinyals → to Discovery Loop as Co-Founder

Vinyals swaps DeepMind's research ladder for a founder's desk at a four-person startup with outsized ambition.

foundingconfirmedAug 5, 2026TechCrunch: Jeff Dean and Other Top AI Researchers Are Leaving Google to Launch Their Own Startup

Sanjay Ghemawat → to Discovery Loop as Co-Founder

Ghemawat's exit removes one of the architects behind Google's foundational infrastructure from its own roster.

foundingconfirmedAug 5, 2026Tech Times: Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat Depart Google to Co-Found Discovery Loop

Jeff Dean → to Discovery Loop as Co-Founder

Google's most storied engineer walks away from a company he helped define for nearly three decades.

foundingconfirmedAug 5, 2026TechCrunch: Jeff Dean and Other Top AI Researchers Are Leaving Google to Launch Their Own Startup