AI Scientist Yao Shunyu Leaves Anthropic for DeepMind

Yao Shunyu, a prominent Chinese AI researcher, has left Anthropic to join Google DeepMind, citing strong disagreement with Anthropic’s stance that classifies China as an “adversarial nation.”

Yao, who contributed to the development of Claude 3.7 Sonnet, said that the company’s growing political rhetoric toward China was a key factor in his decision to leave.

Anthropic recently implemented new restrictions preventing subsidiaries of Chinese companies from accessing its AI services — a move that has drawn criticism for potentially undermining global scientific collaboration. While Yao hinted that there was another significant reason behind his departure, he declined to disclose it due to confidentiality obligations.

Key Highlights

AI researcher Yao Shunyu leaves Anthropic citing China policy concerns
Joins Google DeepMind’s Gemini team as Senior Research Scientist
Departure underscores growing US-China tensions in AI collaboration

At Google DeepMind, Yao joins as a Senior Research Scientist on the Gemini team, which is responsible for developing Google’s flagship foundational AI models. His transition reflects broader dynamics in the global AI research community, as tensions rise between U.S. and Chinese technology ecosystems.

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DeepMind’s leadership, including co-founder Demis Hassabis, has previously emphasized the importance of US-China cooperation in AI safety, contrasting with the more restrictive approaches of several American AI companies. Yao’s move thus highlights an emerging divide in the industry — between firms prioritizing open scientific collaboration and those aligning with stricter geopolitical frameworks.