Google Appoints Former Head of Character.AI Noam Shazeer as Co-Lead of Gemini AI Project
Google has appointed Noam Shazeer, the former head of startup Character.AI and a long-time Google researcher, to co-lead its main AI project, Gemini. Shazeer will be joining other co-leaders Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals in this role, as announced in a memo to staff.
Technical Lead on Gemini AI Models
Shazeer will serve as a technical lead on Gemini, which is the line of AI models being developed by DeepMind, Google's AI division. These AI models are being integrated into various products such as Search and Pixel smartphones. 
Shazeer recently rejoined Google from a chatbot maker he founded in 2021. Google paid billions to bring him and a few other employees into DeepMind and to strike a licensing agreement with Character.AI.
Contributions to AI Research
Shazeer first joined Google in 2000 and was a co-author of a seminal 2017 research paper that influenced the current AI landscape. Character.AI, the startup he previously headed, utilizes the technical advancements developed in that paper. 
The startup has garnered significant funding, raising $193 million and achieving a valuation of $1 billion last year. Google was reportedly considering investing in Character.AI but opted to bring Shazeer back instead.
Big Tech Talent Acquisition
Google's move to recruit Shazeer mirrors similar talent acquisition strategies by tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft, who have also been targeting top talent from AI startups. These actions come at a time when Big Tech companies are under regulatory scrutiny, with concerns raised about antitrust violations.
A recent ruling found Google's search engine in violation of antitrust laws, highlighting the challenges faced by major tech companies in navigating regulatory landscapes. 
Source: Gadgets 360
