Microsoft AI CEO headhunted 3 former colleagues from Google DeepMind to bolster advances in a new AI division

Microsoft is in a heated competition with other tech giants in the AI space, including OpenAI, Salesforce, and Google. The latter just lost some talent to Microsoft, since Microsoft's AI intelligence head Mustafa Suleyman hired three people from DeepMind. Marco Tagliasacchi, Zalán Borsos, and Matthias Minderer announced themselves as founding members of Microsoft's new AI office in Zurich, Switzerland.

All three of those new employees are familiar faces to Suleyman. Tagliasacchi, Borsos, and Minderer all worked at DeepMind. Suleyman co-founded DeepMind in 2010 and worked there for around 12 years before forming an AI start-up called Inflection. Suleyman and several people from Inflection later joined Microsoft in 2024. Now, three more former colleagues have joined Suleyman at Microsoft.

This latest wave of hires continues Microsoft's trend of recruiting DeepMind employees. The tech giant poached multiple former DeepMind employees last December, including Dominic King who now serves as Microsoft vice president over the company's AI health unit. Three other former DeepMind workers joined Microsoft at the same time as King.

Shifting back to the more recent hires, Tagliasacchi and Borsos will focus on audio capabilities in their new roles. Both of them helped create Google's Audio Overviews, which uses two AI hosts to discuss topics in a format similar to a podcast. Minderer will focus on vision capabilities while at Microsoft.

Here's what the three new Microsoft employees said about their new roles:

"I have joined Microsoft AI as a founding member of the new Zurich office, where we are assembling a fantastic team. I will be working on vision capabilities with colleagues in London and the US, and I can't wait to get started. There's lots to do!" — Matthias Minderer

"Pleased to announce I have joined Microsoft AI as a founding member of the new Zurich office. I will be working on audio, collaborating with teams in London, and the US. AI continues to be a transformative force, with audio playing a critical role in shaping more natural, intuitive, and immersive interactions. Looking forward to the journey ahead." — Marco Tagliasacchi

"Thrilled to share that I have joined Microsoft AI as a founding member of the new Zurich office. I will be focusing on advancing the audio capabilities alongside an outstanding team. Looking forward to the exciting journey ahead!" — Zalán Borsos