Big Tech’s AI stars are leaving for a payday only an IPO can offer
Top AI talent is leaving Google and Apple for pre-IPO startups OpenAI and Anthropic, driven by the promise of equity that could multiply upon public listing—a reward mature companies cannot match. Key departures include Google’s Noam Shazeer and Nobel laureate John Jumper, plus Apple’s Paul Meade. Internal culture issues and reorganizations add push. The exodus will continue until these firms list, with each departure signaling doubt and lowering the cost of the next move.
