30 researchers changed frontier labs in 2026 — OpenAI and Anthropic tie as top destinations, Thinking Machines Lab bleeds most

Asked:

“Who moved between the frontier AI labs this year? For each move list the researcher, the lab they left, where they went and the month.”

From January 1 through September 9, 2026, public reporting names 30 direct moves by technical researchers between ten frontier-model labs. Each move is backed by at least one published page naming the researcher, the lab they left as immediate employer, the destination, and the month it began or was announced.

Where the talent flowed

Ribbon colour follows the origin lab; ribbon height is the number of researchers. Hover a ribbon or a lab for names and months.

OpenAI and Anthropic each received 9 researchers — a dead heat at the top, with Anthropic drawing four straight from OpenAI. techfundingnews.com
Thinking Machines Lab lost 10 researchers — a third of the year's moves — including five co-founders returning to OpenAI. fortune.com
Google DeepMind lost 6 senior researchers, four of them to Anthropic, including Nobel laureate John Jumper. fortune.com
April and June were the busiest months with 6 moves each; the pace slowed to 2 in August. annielytics.com

Month by month

All 30 moves

ResearcherLeftJoinedMonthPagesSource

Public-reporting census of direct moves by technical researchers between ten frontier AI labs, 2026-01-01 to 2026-09-09. 30 moves from 33 candidate rows; 3 rows cut as duplicates or pre-2026, one month corrected to employment start. "Pages" counts independent pages reporting the move. Origin is the immediate previous employer; unannounced changes are not covered.

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