Noam Shazeer, a renowned AI researcher, has rejoined Google to co-lead its flagship AI project, Gemini. The move follows Google's acquisition of a portion of his previous startup, Character.AI.
 |
| The race to dominate the AI landscape continues as Google adds a key player to its Gemini AI project. Symbolic image |
San Francisco, California, USA - August 23, 2024:
Google has announced the appointment of Noam Shazeer as a co-lead for its flagship AI project, Gemini. Shazeer, a renowned researcher and entrepreneur, will join existing co-leaders Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals in spearheading the development of AI models that power various Google products, including Search and Pixel phones.
Shazeer's return to Google marks a significant move. He previously led Character.AI, a chatbot startup he founded in 2021. Google reportedly acquired a portion of Character.AI's workforce and technology, including a licensing agreement.
Shazeer is a veteran figure in the world of AI. He joined Google in its early days (2000) and co-authored a groundbreaking research paper in 2017 that significantly contributed to the current AI boom. Character.AI itself heavily relied on these advancements.
This recruitment strategy reflects a broader trend amongst tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft to retain top talent in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. However, it also raises concerns about potential anti-competitive practices. While not technically acquisitions, similar deals have attracted scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, and Google itself is facing a recent court ruling against its search engine practices.