New appointment at Google’s AI division
Shazeer’s return to Google strengthens the AI team at DeepMind.
Google has appointed Noam Shazeer, a former Google researcher and co-founder of Character.AI, as co-lead of its main AI project, Gemini. Shazeer will join Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals in overseeing the development of AI models at DeepMind, Google’s AI division, which are set to enhance products like Search and Pixel smartphones.
Shazeer rejoined Google after founding Character.AI in 2021. The tech giant secured his return by paying billions and striking a licensing agreement with his former company. Shazeer expressed excitement in a memo to staff, praising the team he has rejoined.
Originally joining Google in 2000, Shazeer was instrumental in the 2017 research that ignited the current AI boom. Character.AI, which leverages these advancements, has attracted significant venture capital, reaching a $1 billion valuation last year.
Google’s decision to bring Shazeer back echoes similar strategies by other tech giants, although these moves have drawn regulatory scrutiny. In related news, a US judge recently ruled that Google’s search engine violated antitrust laws by creating an illegal monopoly.
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