Core Automation Attracts Talent from Anthropic and Google DeepMind

Core Automation Attracts Elite AI Talent

A significant movement is shaking the world of artificial intelligence: prominent researchers from Anthropic and Google DeepMind have decided to leave their positions to join a promising new startup, Core Automation. This company, founded by a former OpenAI researcher, has managed to attract these experts with its innovative vision.

Core Automation stands out with its ambition to become "the most automated AI lab in the world." From its launch, the company announced on X its goal to create systems capable of optimizing and automating work, starting with research itself. Jerry Tworek, former vice president of OpenAI, is leading this initiative as CEO and co-founder.

Researchers Convinced by a New Vision

Rohan Anil, a researcher from Anthropic who also has experience at Google DeepMind, joined Core Automation after being "nerdsniped" by Tworek. He expressed on X his decision to leave Anthropic, which he considered an excellent work environment, to embark on this new adventure.

Anmol Gulati, another scientist from Google DeepMind working on the Gemini project, also joined Core Automation. In a post, he shared his belief that the current paradigm of AI research, based on model and data scale, will not be sufficient in the long run. He sees Core Automation as an opportunity to explore new algorithms and architectures that could revolutionize the field.

A Team of Diverse Talents

Among the new members of Core Automation is Joanne Jang, former general manager at OpenAI, who expressed her enthusiasm for automation on her X profile. Other notable recruits include Ehsan Amid and Avery Lamp, both former Google DeepMind employees, as well as Julia Villagra, former head of human resources at OpenAI, and Sai Surya Duvvuri, a former research intern at Google and Meta.

On its website, Core Automation highlights its team composed of individuals who have contributed to cutting-edge models and architectures, thereby emphasizing its capacity to innovate in the field of AI.

The Trend of Researchers Moving to Startups

This phenomenon of researchers migrating to startups is not new. Yann LeCun, former head of AI at Meta, also left a large company to found Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs (AMI Labs), a startup focused on developing AI systems capable of better understanding the real world.

Startups often offer competitive salaries and equity packages to attract talent, in addition to the unique impact that working in a small structure allows. According to Shawn Thorne of True Search, equity is a crucial factor in compensating for the opportunity cost for these high-level researchers.

Startups also provide benefits such as co-founder titles and time for independent research, making their offers particularly attractive for those looking to innovate outside traditional large structures.