在加入 OpenAI 前被迫离开 Thinking Machines 的联合创始人 Barret Zoph，如今加盟 Google

AI 高管之间的“换座游戏”仍在继续。AI 创业公司 Thinking Machines 的联合创始人 Barret Zoph，今年早些时候离开该公司并回归 OpenAI，如今又找到了另一份工作。

Zoph 曾在 OpenAI 工作两年，并于 2024 年 10 月离职，与前一个月刚离开这家 AI 实验室的 Mira Murati 共同创办 Thinking Machines。今年 1 月，Zoph 和 Thinking Machines 的另一位联合创始人 Luke Metz 以颇具戏剧性的方式离开这家创业公司，回到 OpenAI。随后有报道称，Zoph 实际上是被解雇的。

不过，他的回归并未持续太久。Zoph 在 OpenAI 仅工作了五个月，期间负责领导 AI 企业销售业务。他于 6 月离开公司。现在，我们知道了他的去向。

Zoph 已在 Google 担任研究副总裁——这恰好也是他此前工作过的另一家公司。Google 一名发言人向《华尔街日报》表示：“我们期待 Barret 重返 Google，并将他的 RL 和后训练专长带到 Gemini。”

TechCrunch 已联系 OpenAI 和 Google，以了解更多信息。

科技高管在岗位上停留时间似乎越来越短，背后的原因并不总是容易判断。AI 行业的人才流动率很高，而 OpenAI 的流动率尤其突出——尽管该公司正为 IPO 做准备，并且是科技界最具影响力的存在之一，但过去八个月里已经流失了许多关键员工。从首席运营官离职，到近期失去一名顶级数据中心高管，高层管理人员的持续流失令观察人士感到困惑。

本文已更新，补充了 Zoph 被 Thinking Machines 解雇这一事实。

The game of musical chairs for AI executives continues. Barret Zoph, a co-founder of the AI startup Thinking Machines who left the company earlier this year to rejoin OpenAI, has found yet another job.

Zoph spent two years at OpenAI and left in October 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines with Mira Murati, who had left the AI lab the month prior. In January, Zoph and another Thinking Machines co-founder, Luke Metz, quite dramatically departed from the startup to return to OpenAI. It was later revealed that Zoph had been fired.

His return didn’t quite stick. Zoph spent only five months at OpenAI, where he was tasked with heading AI enterprise sales. He left the company in June. And now we know where he landed.

Zoph has taken a position as vice president of research at Google (which happens to be another company where he previously worked). “We look forward to Barret returning to Google and bringing his RL and post-training expertise to Gemini,” a Google spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.

TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI and Google for more information.

It’s not always easy to divine why tech executives seem to be spending less time in their roles. The turnover rate in the AI industry is high, and it’s been especially high at OpenAI — a company that, despite readying itself for an IPO and being one of the most powerful presences in the tech world, has lost a lot of critical staff over the last eight months. The turnover of high-level executives — from the departure of its COO to the recent loss of one of its top data center execs — has left onlookers scratching their heads.

This story has been updated to include the fact that Zoph was fired from Thinking Machines.