Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder ousted before joining OpenAI, is now at Google
Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines co-founder ousted before joining OpenAI, is now at Google
Barret Zoph，这位在加入 OpenAI 前被踢出 Thinking Machines 的联合创始人，现已入职 Google
The game of musical chairs for AI executives continues. Barret Zoph, a co-founder of the AI startup Thinking Machines who left the company earlier this year to rejoin OpenAI, has found yet another job. AI 高管圈的“抢椅子”游戏仍在继续。Barret Zoph 是 AI 初创公司 Thinking Machines 的联合创始人，他今年早些时候离开该公司并重返 OpenAI，如今又找到了新工作。
Zoph spent two years at OpenAI and left in October 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines with Mira Murati, who had left the AI lab the month prior. In January, Zoph and another Thinking Machines co-founder, Luke Metz, quite dramatically departed from the startup to return to OpenAI. It was later revealed that Zoph had been fired. Zoph 曾在 OpenAI 工作了两年，并于 2024 年 10 月离职，与前一个月离开该 AI 实验室的 Mira Murati 共同创立了 Thinking Machines。今年 1 月，Zoph 和 Thinking Machines 的另一位联合创始人 Luke Metz 以一种戏剧性的方式离开了这家初创公司，重返 OpenAI。后来有消息披露，Zoph 当时是被解雇的。
His return didn’t quite stick. Zoph spent only five months at OpenAI, where he was tasked with heading AI enterprise sales. He left the company in June. And now we know where he landed. Zoph has taken a position as vice president of research at Google (which happens to be another company where he previously worked). 他的回归并不长久。Zoph 在 OpenAI 仅待了五个月，负责领导 AI 企业销售业务。他于 6 月离职。现在我们知道了他的去向：Zoph 已出任 Google 的研究副总裁（碰巧这也是他曾经工作过的另一家公司）。
“We look forward to Barret returning to Google and bringing his RL and post-training expertise to Gemini,” a Google spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal. TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI and Google for more information. “我们期待 Barret 回归 Google，并将他在强化学习（RL）和训练后优化方面的专业知识带到 Gemini 项目中，”Google 发言人告诉《华尔街日报》。TechCrunch 已联系 OpenAI 和 Google 以获取更多信息。
It’s not always easy to divine why tech executives seem to be spending less time in their roles. The turnover rate in the AI industry is high, and it’s been especially high at OpenAI — a company that, despite readying itself for an IPO and being one of the most powerful presences in the tech world, has lost a lot of critical staff over the last eight months. 要弄清楚为什么科技高管在职时间似乎越来越短并不容易。AI 行业的离职率很高，而在 OpenAI 尤为突出——尽管该公司正准备 IPO，且是科技界最有影响力的公司之一，但在过去八个月里，它流失了大量关键员工。
The turnover of high-level executives — from the departure of its COO to the recent loss of one of its top data center execs — has left onlookers scratching their heads. This story has been updated to include the fact that Zoph was fired from Thinking Machines. 从首席运营官（COO）的离职到最近一位顶级数据中心高管的流失，高层管理人员的频繁变动让外界感到困惑。本文已更新，加入了 Zoph 被 Thinking Machines 解雇的事实。