Microsoft is scooping up DeepMind AI talent from Google. Around two dozen hires have jumped ship in recent months, a source told CNBC.
Amar Subramanya, a 16-year Google vet who helped develop the Gemini assistant, joined Microsoft AI as corporate VP this week.
June saw Adam Sadovsky, a near-18-year DeepMind senior director and software engineer, move to Microsoft AI as corporate VP. 
Others like Sonal Gupta and Jonas Rothfuss also switched to Microsoft AI technical roles this year.
This talent raid happens amid a surge in AI hiring by tech giants. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta handed out $100 million in signing bonuses to poach its staff. Meta also recruited Scale AI’s CEO and ex-GitHub chief. Google recently bought AI startup Windsurf for $2.4 billion and hired its CEO.
Microsoft’s AI unit is led by CEO Mustafa Suleyman, a DeepMind co-founder who left Google to head AI startup Inflection before joining Microsoft last year.
Suleyman talked about Microsoft Copilot’s “seismic shift” in AI integration at a recent company event in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft disclosed layoffs of 9,000 workers earlier this month, under 4% of its workforce.
Mustafa Suleyman stated:
Microsoft Copilot beginning of a seismic shift in AI integration, says Microsoft AI CEO Suleyman
