Shazeer Rejoins Google, Where He Helped to Lead Its Initial AI Efforts Before Leaving to Launch Character.AI
Google has appointed Noam Shazeer, a former head of startup Character.AI and long-time Google researcher, as co-lead of its primary AI initiative. Shazeer will serve as a technical lead for Gemini, joining Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals in overseeing the development of the AI models being produced by DeepMind, Google’s AI division. These models are being integrated into key products such as Google Search and Pixel smartphones, according to an internal memo shared with staff.
Shazeer’s return to Google comes after a stint at Character.AI, the chatbot maker he co-founded in 2021. The U.S. tech giant reportedly paid billions to bring Shazeer and several of his employees back into the fold at DeepMind, while also securing a licensing agreement with Character.AI. “We are thrilled to join the best team on earth building the most valuable technology on earth,” Shazeer wrote in response to the memo.
The memo, which was first reported by The Information, highlights Shazeer’s significant contributions to the field of AI. He originally joined Google in 2000, just two years after its founding, and was a co-author of a groundbreaking 2017 research paper that helped ignite the current AI boom. Character.AI has built on these advancements, raising $193 million and being valued at $1 billion by venture capitalists last year.
Google had previously been in talks to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Character.AI, Reuters reported in November. Instead, the company opted to bring Shazeer back into its ranks, mirroring similar moves by Amazon and Microsoft, both of which have also recruited top talent from AI startups. These types of deals, while not outright acquisitions, have drawn the attention of regulators, with the Federal Trade Commission currently examining the actions of Amazon and Microsoft.
Google’s own practices are also under scrutiny. This month, a U.S. judge ruled that the company’s search engine violated antitrust laws, accusing Google of spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly. Despite the regulatory challenges, Google’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities remains strong, as evidenced by its efforts to secure top talent like Shazeer to lead its AI initiatives.
