OpenAI Hires Character.AI Cofounder Noam Shazeer as Safety Lawsuits Shadow Both Firms
Updated
Updated · Futurism · Jun 19
OpenAI Hires Character.AI Cofounder Noam Shazeer as Safety Lawsuits Shadow Both Firms
3 articles · Updated · Futurism · Jun 19
Summary
Noam Shazeer said Wednesday he is joining OpenAI, marking another high-profile move for the former Google Gemini co-lead and Character.AI cofounder.
Shazeer helped launch Character.AI in 2021 after leaving Google, then returned in a 2024 deal that sent $2.7 billion from Google into the startup while pulling key talent back.
Character.AI's rise to a $1 billion valuation in 2023 was later eclipsed by lawsuits alleging its chatbots drove minors toward self-harm and suicide; the company and codefendants moved to settle early this year.
OpenAI is entering the hire while facing more than a dozen consumer-safety and wrongful-death suits of its own over claims that intense ChatGPT interactions harmed users, including minors.
Sam Altman called Shazeer someone he had wanted to work with for 10 years, underscoring how top AI labs still prize elite researchers despite mounting scrutiny over product safety.
Google paid $2.7B to bring back its AI wizard. Why did he just jump to rival OpenAI?
With a Gemini co-lead now at OpenAI, will Google's AI ever catch up in the race for market dominance?
Noam Shazeer Joins OpenAI: Inside the $2.7 Billion AI Talent War and Google’s Strategic Setback
Overview
On June 17, 2026, Noam Shazeer, a key figure in AI and co-author of the influential 2017 research paper that sparked the modern AI boom, left Google to join OpenAI. Shazeer's career has been marked by major moves, including leaving Google in 2021 to lead Character.ai after Google hesitated to support his advanced chatbot work. His return to Google in 2024 was driven by a major licensing deal, but his swift departure to OpenAI highlights the fierce competition for top AI talent and the ongoing shifts among leading tech companies in the race to shape the future of artificial intelligence.