Meta's mid-2025 raid drove the biggest wave of 111 frontier-lab researcher moves

Asked:

“Which AI researchers moved between frontier labs since 2025? For each move list the researcher, the lab they left, where they went and the month.”

A public-web census of 111 direct moves by named technical AI researchers between frontier foundation-model labs, January 2025 through September 2026. This is a best-effort census, not a closed official universe: private or unannounced moves may be missing, and some rows rest on a single source. Repeat movers appear once per move.

Each curve is one researcher's move in that month, from the lab on its left end to the lab at its arrowless right end; hover or tap a curve for the name. Dashed curves are repeat movers.

Meta took 43 of the 111 moves, 31 of them in June–August 2025 alone — 15 from OpenAI, 9 from Google DeepMind and 4 from Apple. reuters.com
OpenAI and Google DeepMind each lost 31 researchers, the most of any labs; Anthropic was the second-largest recruiter with 24 arrivals, 11 from Google DeepMind. fortune.com
Thinking Machines Lab hired 11 researchers, mostly ex-OpenAI in February 2025 — then lost 8, including Barret Zoph and Luke Metz returning to OpenAI in January 2026. businessinsider.com
Six researchers moved twice in the window, including Andrew Tulloch, who left Meta for Anthropic in September 2026. fortune.com
ResearcherLeftJoinedMonthRoleSourcingRefsSource

Method: best-effort public-web census of 111 direct moves by named technical AI researchers (research scientists, research engineers, chief scientists, technical founders) between frontier foundation-model labs, 2025-01 to 2026-09, compiled from business and technology reporting, company announcements and professional profiles across 10 source hosts; no single URL backs more than 7 rows (6.3%). Lab labels normalized to the research lab (Google/Alphabet to Google DeepMind; Meta AI/MSL to Meta). Month is the best-supported month of the completed move or its announcement. Product, policy, infrastructure-only and acquisition moves excluded. Highlighted names are repeat movers; role text abbreviated in the table for space.

This report was generated automatically by Keenable SELECT at a user's request, from publicly available web sources linked herein. Keenable does not review, verify, or endorse its contents and makes no representation as to accuracy, completeness, or timeliness; AI-based extraction may contain errors. Nothing in this report is investment, legal, financial, or other professional advice. All trademarks and referenced content remain the property of their respective owners; no affiliation or endorsement is implied. To report an error, rights concern, or request removal: legal@keenable.ai.

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