"Tech's Hottest Dating App: AI Labs Swipe Right on Each Other's Employees, Ghost Their Own"

The AI lab industry is witnessing a significant brain drain, with top talent constantly switching between companies, as evident from the recent exodus of executives and researchers from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines lab to OpenAI. On January 15, 2026, it was reported that three top executives from Thinking Machines lab had left their positions and were swiftly hired by OpenAI, with two more employees expected to follow suit in the next few weeks, according to Alex Heath. Meanwhile, Anthropic is also poaching talent from OpenAI, including senior safety research lead Andrea Vallone, who specializes in AI models' response to mental health issues and will be working under alignment researcher Jan Leike, who left OpenAI in 2024 due to concerns over the company's safety protocols. Additionally, OpenAI has made a significant hire, bringing on Max Stoiber, formerly the director of engineering at Shopify, to work on its long-rumored operating system, which will be developed by a "small high-agency team". This revolving door of talent has significant implications for the AI industry, with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic competing to attract and retain top researchers and executives to drive innovation and address critical issues like AI safety and alignment.