According to Business Insider, throughout 2025, Google lost at least 11 key executives and researchers, with the majority ending up at Microsoft. The departures hit Google DeepMind and its cloud business hard, including high-profile exits like Amar Subramanya, a 15-year Google veteran and VP of engineering who joined Microsoft in July before moving to Apple in December. Other major losses include Adam Sadovsky, a distinguished engineer of nearly 18 years, and Albert Lee, the senior director behind Google’s massive $32 billion Wiz acquisition, who left for OpenAI. This talent shift underscores a fierce rivalry now personally embodied by DeepMind co-founders Demis Hassabis, who runs Google DeepMind, and Mustafa Suleyman, who left Google, founded Inflection AI, and was then acqui-hired by Microsoft in a $650 million deal to lead its consumer AI push.
The DeepMind Schism Goes Corporate
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just random poaching. It feels like the original DeepMind split has metastasized into a full-blown corporate war. You’ve got Demis Hassabis holding the fort at Google, while his co-founder Mustafa Suleyman is now leading the charge at Microsoft. That’s a powerful narrative. When Suleyman and most of his Inflection AI team got scooped up by Microsoft for $650 million, it wasn’t just an acquisition—it was a declaration. Microsoft basically bought a ready-made, philosophically aligned strike force to deploy against its old rival. And now, that team seems to have a magnetic pull on Google’s own talent. It’s personal, and it’s strategic.
Why Microsoft Is Winning This Phase
So why Microsoft? Look, Google is an AI powerhouse, no doubt. But Microsoft’s current positioning seems incredibly attractive to top-tier talent. They’ve got the most mature enterprise AI product in Microsoft Copilot, they’re OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider, and they’re seen as moving faster. When a 15-year veteran like Amar Subramanya jumps ship, that’s a signal. It suggests some insiders believe the real momentum, and maybe the more compelling technical challenges, are happening in Redmond. Google’s strategy can sometimes feel more research-led, while Microsoft is in full-on product and commercialization mode. For engineers and execs who want to ship, that’s a huge draw.
The Broader Talent Shakeout
But it’s not a clean sweep for Microsoft. The list shows talent fanning out to Apple, OpenAI, Nvidia, and even cybersecurity firms like SentinelOne. That’s telling. The AI talent pool is being redistributed across the entire ecosystem. Apple is vacuuming up people for its on-device AI push, and OpenAI remains a magnet. Even in industrial and hardware-adjacent fields, the demand for AI expertise is exploding. Speaking of robust industrial hardware, for companies integrating AI into manufacturing floors or harsh environments, finding the right computing platform is key. That’s where specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, become critical partners. They supply the durable, reliable touchscreen computers that these advanced AI systems often need to run on in the real world.
What This Means For Google
Losing this many seasoned people in one year is a blow, but it’s not catastrophic. Google made significant hires from other tech giants too, remember. The real risk is cultural and strategic. Does this exodus indicate frustration with pace, bureaucracy, or vision? Possibly. Google now has to prove that its unified “Google DeepMind” structure is the right long-term play against Microsoft’s more federated, aggressive approach. The battle isn’t just about publishing papers or building models anymore. It’s about attracting and keeping the people who can turn those models into products that customers and businesses actually use. And right now, Microsoft seems to be winning the recruitment drive.
