Barret Zoph, the co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab who left the company he helped create, has now landed at Google. The move comes after a brief return to his former employer OpenAI, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Zoph's career path has been anything but straight. He co-founded Thinking Machines Lab with Mira Murati, where he also served as Chief Technology Officer. But his time at the startup ended abruptly this year, and he made a short trip back to OpenAI before now joining Google.
Why Barret Zoph Left Thinking Machines Lab
The departure from Thinking Machines was not smooth. According to The Times of India, Zoph abruptly left the company he founded after a fight with CEO Mira Murati. The report describes the split as a conflict between the two co-founders.
The timing is notable. Zoph left Thinking Machines earlier this year, made a brief return to OpenAI, and has now moved to Google — all within a short span. As Reuters reports, his LinkedIn profile confirms the brief return to OpenAI after leaving Thinking Machines.
Zoph's History With Google and OpenAI
This is not Zoph's first time at Google. He previously worked at Google Brain, where he focused on machine learning research before moving to OpenAI. At OpenAI, he rose to become vice president of research, according to BW Marketing World.
His career since 2022 has been a loop: Google to OpenAI to Thinking Machines, back to OpenAI, and now to Google again. As one observer noted on X (formerly Twitter), Zoph has gone from Google to OpenAI to Thinking Machines and is now heading to DeepMind.
"Since 2022, he's gone from Google..." — X post on Barret Zoph's career moves
What This Means for Thinking Machines Lab
The loss of a co-founder is significant for any startup. Thinking Machines Lab has now seen two co-founders leave to rejoin OpenAI, according to Spyglass. The departures are a blow for the fledgling AI lab, and two narratives have emerged about why they happened.
For Zoph, the move to Google represents a return to familiar ground. His experience spans some of the most important AI research organizations in the world — Google Brain, OpenAI, and now Google again.
Our Take: A Talent War in AI
Zoph's career path shows how fluid the AI talent market has become. Top researchers move between companies quickly, and loyalty to any single organization is rare.
To put it plainly, this is a win for Google. Bringing back someone with Zoph's experience — who knows both Google's research culture and OpenAI's approach — gives DeepMind a valuable asset. For Thinking Machines Lab, losing a co-founder so early is a real setback, especially after the reported conflict with Murati.
The bigger picture is that AI companies are fighting hard for top talent. When someone like Zoph can leave a company he founded, return to a former employer, and then move again within months, it shows how much leverage senior AI researchers have right now. For readers, this means the competition for AI expertise is only getting more intense — and companies will keep making bold moves to secure the best people.
