OpenAI is bolstering its ranks with two high-profile hires as the company moves closer to its initial public offering: Noam Shazeer, a co-lead at Google DeepMind and co-founder of Character AI, and Dean Ball, a former White House AI policy official under President Donald Trump.
Shazeer, widely recognized as one of the foundational minds behind modern generative AI, announced his departure from Google on Wednesday. He had been at Google since 2000, leaving only for a three-year period to co-found Character AI. Google re-hired Shazeer two years ago in a $2.7 billion deal that gave the tech giant access to the startup’s technology.
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Shazeer co-authored the seminal 2017 paper “Attention Is All You Need,” which introduced the Transformer architecture — the technological backbone of virtually every major large language model today, including OpenAI’s GPT series. His departure is the latest in a series of talent shuffles among top AI labs, including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta.
Before leaving Google, Shazeer had reportedly voiced opinions on internal messaging boards about transgender identity and Israel’s war in Gaza, which led to management deleting his posts, according to The Information. It remains unclear whether those controversies will follow him to OpenAI.
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OpenAI strengthens policy team with former White House official
Alongside Shazeer, OpenAI is also shoring up its policy credentials by bringing Ball to the team. Ball had a brief stint last year in the White House, where he helped publish America’s AI Action Plan before stepping down to rejoin the techno-libertarian think tank the Foundation for American Innovation as a senior fellow.
“I am pleased and honored to announce that, on July 6, I’ll be joining OpenAI as leader of a new team called Strategic Futures,” Ball wrote on X on Thursday. “Our mandate will be to help the company’s leadership shape frontier AI policy.”
Ball will report directly to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon. The “small, high-agency team” will focus on “matters pertaining to: catastrophic risk, recursive self-improvement, labor market impact, and the relationship between the frontier labs, governments (particularly the U.S. Federal Government), and society,” Ball wrote in a blog post. The Strategic Futures team will cover both public-facing policy and internal governance, he added.
“In other words, internal governance will be more central to the future of AI than most people realize,” Ball wrote.
Ball’s hire signals strategic positioning amid government tensions
Ball’s decision to join OpenAI — arguably an AI favorite in the administration — comes as rival Anthropic battles once again with the U.S. government. Late last week, President Donald Trump ordered an export control ban on Anthropic’s latest models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, leading the AI firm to take the models down entirely to avoid noncompliance.
For anyone who had “government interference” on their S-1 risk factor bingo card, Ball is what it looks like when a company locks in its insider status while a rival is squeezed. TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Noam Shazeer and why is his move to OpenAI significant?
Noam Shazeer is a co-author of the 2017 ‘Attention Is All You Need’ paper that introduced the Transformer architecture, the foundation of modern generative AI. He previously co-founded Character AI and was a co-lead at Google DeepMind. His move to OpenAI signals a major talent acquisition as the company scales ahead of its IPO.
What will Dean Ball do at OpenAI?
Dean Ball will lead a new team called Strategic Futures, reporting to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon. The team will focus on shaping frontier AI policy, including catastrophic risk, recursive self-improvement, labor market impact, and the relationship between AI labs and governments.
How does this hiring spree relate to OpenAI’s IPO?
These hires strengthen OpenAI’s technical and policy credentials, which are critical for investor confidence and regulatory navigation as the company prepares for its public debut. Adding top talent and policy expertise helps mitigate risks and signals readiness for public market scrutiny.
What is the Strategic Futures team at OpenAI?
The Strategic Futures team is a small, high-agency group within OpenAI that will address internal governance and public-facing policy matters, particularly around AI safety, government relations, and the societal impact of advanced AI systems.
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