Dave Citron, a former senior director of product at Google DeepMind, has joined Microsoft’s AI group as corporate vice president — the latest high-profile move in the escalating battle for AI talent.
Citron joined Microsoft this month as corporate vice president, product at Microsoft AI.
In a LinkedIn post, Citron said he’s “energized by Microsoft AI’s pace, principles, and product craft.” Citron graduated from the University of Washington’s computer science school in 2005 and previously spent nearly a decade at Microsoft.
Citron is the latest DeepMind leader to join Microsoft AI — part of Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman’s effort to recruit from his former employer.
Microsoft has hired around 24 leaders and other employees from Google in the past several months — mostly from its AI research lab DeepMind, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and CNBC.
Longtime Google leaders Amar Subramanya and Adam Sadovsky joined Microsoft this summer, also in CVP roles.
Major AI players are aggressively recruiting top AI talent with generous pay packages, reverse “acqui-hires,” and other strategies.
Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, has promised a startup-like atmosphere at Microsoft AI, according to the Journal.
Microsoft is also pursuing AI talent from Meta, according to Business Insider.
The hires underscore Microsoft’s push to bolster its AI leadership as it battles rivals to turn cutting-edge research into widely used products.
“Our focus is simple to say and hard to do: turn breakthrough models into products people trust and love,” Citron wrote in his LinkedIn post. “That means pairing frontier capabilities with great UX, real-world grounding, and responsible design so AI feels useful, safe, and human.”
