Google has appointed Noam Shazeer, the former head of Character.AI and a longtime Google researcher, as a co-leader for its main AI initiative, Gemini. Shazeer will work alongside Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals, according to a company memo.
Gemini is a series of AI models developed by DeepMind, Google’s AI division, and is being integrated into products like Search and Pixel smartphones.
Read more: Google’s Find My Device Network is Coming Soon
Shazeer, who recently rejoined Google, was brought back along with other employees from Character.AI, which he founded in 2021.
Google invested billions in this deal, including a licensing agreement with Character.AI. Shazeer expressed excitement about joining Google’s team, noting the value of the technology being developed.
Shazeer initially joined Google in 2000 and co-authored a 2017 paper that significantly impacted the current AI landscape. Character.AI, which leverages advancements from this paper, has raised $193 million and was valued at $1 billion last year.
Instead of investing directly in Character.AI, Google chose to bring Shazeer back. This move is similar to strategies used by Amazon and Microsoft to attract top talent from AI startups, amid growing regulatory scrutiny of Big Tech.
Recently, a U.S. judge ruled that Google’s search engine practices violated antitrust laws, leading to a billion-dollar fine for creating an illegal monopoly.
