{"slug": "googles-gemini-delay-exposes-a-deeper-problem-employee-morale", "title": "Google’s Gemini delay exposes a deeper problem: employee morale", "summary": "Google's Gemini 3.5 Pro model is months behind schedule, and six current and former DeepMind employees told Axios that low morale is slowing releases. The talent exodus includes Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to OpenAI and Nobel laureate John Jumper to Anthropic, while an April Pentagon deal has prompted resignations. Google disputes the morale claims, saying AI attrition is lower than a year ago and over 90% of offered AI roles are accepted.", "body_md": "Google is losing a race it once led, and the problem may be its own people. Six current and former DeepMind employees told Axios that low morale is slowing the lab’s model releases, [Axios reported](https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/googles-deep-mind-ai-model-race).\n\nThe immediate symptom is [Gemini 3.5 Pro](https://thenextweb.com/news/google-gemini-pro-delayed-coding-falls-short). Google’s most powerful model is months behind, according to [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-16/google-gemini-launch-delayed-as-tech-falls-short-of-internal-goals). Google did ship a batch of smaller, cheaper models this week, to mixed reviews. Rivals pounced. “Gemini who?” Meta’s Alexandr Wang [posted on X](https://x.com/alexandr_wang/status/2079707749412483104).\n\nThe timing stings because the money is flowing out. Google beat earnings on Wednesday, but its free [cash flow turned negative](https://thenextweb.com/news/alphabet-q2-2026-capex-205bn-cloud-82), largely on AI spending. It is on track to spend $190bn this year.\n\nCloud revenue grew 82%, yet search came in light, sharpening the question of whether the capex will pay off.\n\n## A talent exodus\n\nThe deeper issue is who is leaving. The AI talent wars have hit Google hardest, and it has [lost big names](https://thenextweb.com/news/google-loses-two-gemini-researchers-anthropic). Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer went to OpenAI. Nobel chemistry laureate John Jumper left for Anthropic. “We’re behind,” one employee told Axios, of the company’s models against rivals.\n\nOne flashpoint keeps surfacing: an April deal letting the [Pentagon](https://thenextweb.com/news/pentagon-genai-mil-1-5-million-users-google-gemini-military-ai) use Google’s technology. Several employees say they resigned over it, and sources said it comes up often in exit interviews. For those opposed, one called it a “constant battle” that has led to “emotional burnout.”\n\nAlex Turner, a former DeepMind scientist who quit over the military work, said chief executive Demis Hassabis lacks the internal presence that Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have with their staff.\n\n## Google pushes back\n\nGoogle rejects the picture. It disputes that morale is denting its models, or that people are leaving in droves over the Pentagon deal. Attrition among AI staff, it says, is lower than a year ago, and more than 90% of those offered AI roles accept.\n\n“We’re feeling good about this week’s Flash launches, our roadmap and the incredible demand,” a spokesperson said. Its chief executive [Hassabis](https://thenextweb.com/news/demis-hassabis-frontier-ai-standards-body-finra) also published an AI safety framework last week.\n\nThere is truth on both sides. Leads in AI are fickle, and Google has been leapfrogged before, by Anthropic’s Mythos, and may be again by OpenAI next. The cheaper models it just shipped answer a real market worry about cost.\n\nBut the bottom line is stark.\n\nGoogle can afford to be overtaken on a leaderboard. It cannot afford to lose its best people, or its investors’ patience.\n\n## Get the TNW newsletter\n\nGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/googles-gemini-delay-exposes-a-deeper-problem-employee-morale", "canonical_source": "https://thenextweb.com/news/google-deepmind-morale-gemini-delay-talent", "published_at": "2026-07-23 14:58:20+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-23 16:01:34.340744+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-ethics", "ai-policy", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Google", "DeepMind", "Gemini 3.5 Pro", "Noam Shazeer", "OpenAI", "John Jumper", "Anthropic", "Demis Hassabis"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/googles-gemini-delay-exposes-a-deeper-problem-employee-morale", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/googles-gemini-delay-exposes-a-deeper-problem-employee-morale.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/googles-gemini-delay-exposes-a-deeper-problem-employee-morale.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/googles-gemini-delay-exposes-a-deeper-problem-employee-morale.jsonld"}}