In an escalation of the Silicon Valley talent war, Microsoft has hired about twenty employees from Google’s prestigious DeepMind AI lab, including vice presidents and prominent engineers, to bolster its Copilot team.
Article contents:
- Introduction: The talent war heats up
- The big names making the move
- Mustafa Suleyman’s strategy: reuniting the old DeepMind gang
- The bigger picture: multi-million dollar paychecks
- The coming battle: Copilot vs. Gemini
- Conclusion: Talent is the new currency in the AI era
Introduction: The talent war heats up
Microsoft has hired approximately twenty employees from Alphabet’s (Google) DeepMind artificial intelligence research lab in recent months, in a move that highlights the fierce competition for top minds in the field. This move, revealed by a person familiar with the matter, represents a direct attack on one of Google’s most important assets and underscores Microsoft’s ambitious strategy to dominate the consumer AI market.
The big names making the move
These hires were not ordinary employees. Among the prominent names that moved from Google to Microsoft:
- Amar Subramanya: Who worked at Google for 16 years, with his last position being vice president of engineering for Gemini assistant development. He announced on LinkedIn that he has joined Microsoft AI as a corporate vice president.
- Adam Sadowsky: A distinguished software engineer and senior director at DeepMind with nearly 18 years of experience at Google, who also joined Microsoft as a corporate vice president.
In addition to these, other engineers and researchers from DeepMind have joined the Microsoft AI team.
Mustafa Suleyman’s strategy: reuniting the old DeepMind gang
These new hires join Microsoft’s artificial intelligence group led by Mustafa Suleyman, who reports directly to CEO Satya Nadella. Notably, Suleyman is one of the co-founders of DeepMind, which was acquired by Google in 2014. After leaving Google and founding Inflection AI, Suleyman became a Microsoft executive last year, bringing several of his startup’s employees with him.
Suleyman appears to be leveraging his network and deep knowledge of DeepMind to recruit top talent he previously worked with, building a strong team inside Microsoft sharing a common DeepMind DNA.
The bigger picture: multi-million dollar paychecks
This move comes as major tech companies pay exorbitant sums for AI experts. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last month that Meta offered his startup’s employees $100 million signing bonuses. Meta successfully hired Scale AI CEO Alexander Wang and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. Meanwhile, Google hired the CEO and other employees from AI coding startup Windsurf in a $2.4 billion deal.
The coming battle: Copilot vs. Gemini
Microsoft’s group, which these employees are joining, focuses on the consumer-oriented Copilot assistant as well as the Bing search engine. This puts them in direct competition with Google’s Gemini assistant, which these very employees used to work on developing. Through these appointments, Microsoft aims to acquire the expertise and knowledge needed to outperform Google in the smart assistants race.
Conclusion: Talent is the new currency in the AI era
This wave of transitions demonstrates that the battle for AI dominance is not just about building the best models or owning the largest data centers, but also about assembling the smartest teams. By targeting the heart of Google’s research lab, Microsoft is sending a clear message: it is ready to do whatever it takes, and pay any price, to win the talent war and ultimately win the AI race.
Frequently asked questions
What is the DeepMind lab?
DeepMind is a British artificial intelligence research lab founded in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014. It is famous for pioneering innovations such as AlphaGo, the first computer program to defeat the world champion in the game of Go.
Who is Mustafa Suleyman?
He is one of the three co-founders of DeepMind. After leaving Google, he founded Inflection AI, then moved to Microsoft in 2024 to lead the new consumer AI division, Microsoft AI.
Does Google also hire talent from other companies?
Yes, the talent war goes both ways. All major tech companies, including Google, recruit aggressively from competitors and startups, often offering massive compensation packages to attract top talent.
