In another bold move to strengthen its AI division, Microsoft has quietly hired key talent from Haiper, a London-based AI video startup once seen as Europe’s answer to Runway AI and OpenAI’s Sora.
Among the new hires are Haiper’s cofounders, former Google DeepMind researchers Yishu Miao and Ziyu Wang, as well as senior machine learning researcher Edward Hayes. All three have officially joined Microsoft AI, reporting directly to Nando de Freitas, Microsoft’s VP of AI and a DeepMind alum known for his work on generative audio and image models.
Founded in 2021, Haiper had ambitious plans to develop a multimodal AGI with full perceptual abilities aimed at revolutionizing creative content. The startup raised $13.8 million in funding last year from Octopus Ventures and gained attention for its prompt-based AI video generation app.
However, in February 2025, Haiper shut down its consumer-facing platform. Sources familiar with the situation told Sifted the team is now pivoting toward a B2B model, leaving their King’s Cross office vacant and its remaining 20 employees rethinking their strategy.
Meanwhile, Microsoft seized the opportunity, scooping up Haiper’s top technical talent. The move mirrors Microsoft’s 2024 mass hiring of Inflection AI staff, another sign of the tech giant’s aggressive push to dominate multimodal generative AI.
The hires come as Mustafa Suleyman, cofounder of DeepMind and now CEO of Microsoft AI, ramps up his talent hunt. Suleyman has been actively recruiting former DeepMind colleagues and other top AI researchers to fuel Microsoft’s next wave of breakthroughs.
Haiper cofounder Yishu Miao, who served as CEO until March 2025, confirmed his new role at Microsoft AI via LinkedIn. “After 3 years startup life with Haiper, I’m starting a new journey at Microsoft AI building multimodal generative AI!” his profile reads.
Haiper once described its mission as building AGI for creativity, but it now looks like that vision will live on inside Microsoft’s AI labs. With Miao, Wang, and Hayes onboard, Microsoft further solidifies its position in the race to create next-generation generative video, audio, and image tools.
As the battle for AI talent heats up, Microsoft’s latest recruitment drive is another clear signal: the company is betting big on owning the future of multimodal AI.
