Google's AI models chief who said the company is 'building-first' culture joins rival Meta

Madhu Gurumurthy, Google's head of product, has joined Meta. Gurumurthy announced that he is leaving Google almost two months ago in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Search giant's former top exec wrote how he had the privilege of helping build two businesses from zero at Google.

He wrote how with Gemini 3, Google came from behind to join the big league and compete as equals. Gurumurthy had then not revealed where he will be joining.Known for his thoughts on Twitter, Gurumurthy, had written in June 2025 how Google was moving to a "building-first" culture. In an age of vibe-coding, Gurumurthy said, product managers can show, not tell. "Role profiles are blurring, creativity and building are happening in parallel," he wrote.In a post that he headlined as 'personal update', Gurumurthy wrote that he is joining Facebook and Instagram parent Meta. "Personal update: I’ve joined @Meta to build AI products. While SWE agents have transformed software engineering, agents in most other complex systems are still early. Most people haven’t yet felt the full power of AI agents. Meta is well positioned to change that. Time to build," wrote Gurumurthy.

He tagged his earlier Twitter post where had wrong about moving on from Google. Gurumurthy so far has not yet revealed the position he will be joining on, as well as the team.Announcing his departure from Google in May, Gurumurthy wrote: "I'm moving on from @Google. I had the privilege of helping build two businesses from zero: first across Search & Ads, then Gemini. Three years ago, OpenAI and Anthropic were in the lead.

We built what it took to compete: the playbook for building AI models, the customer feedback flywheel, and the enterprise business. Gemini 3 was the moment those systems came together.

To the Gemini team: we went from underdogs to competing at the frontier. Keep pushing. For now, I'm enjoying the emergent capabilities of some real intelligence at home - my toddler. She's been quietly shipping."

Madhu Gurumurthy: Building at Google has been the honor of a lifetime

In a post on LinkedIn announcing his decision to leave Google, Gurumurthy had termed the opportunity to build at Google as an honor.

"In a Building at Google has been the honor of a lifetime. I'm moving on. I've had the privilege of helping build two businesses from zero: first in Search & Ads, then with Gemini. Both were possible because of the caliber of people I got to build with. Gemini has been the hardest and most rewarding work of my career.

Three years ago, OpenAI and Anthropic were firmly in the lead, and there was no playbook - not for product managing AI models, not for building AI-native products, not for driving enterprise adoption. We built what it took to compete: the flywheel from market signal to model improvements to adoption, and the enterprise business. Gemini 3 was the moment those systems came together. To the Gemini team: we went from underdogs to competing at the frontier. Keep pushing," he wrote.