Google rehires Character.AI founder Noam Shazeer as co-chief technical officer for its Gemini AI project. (Image: iStock)
In a strategic move to strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities, Google has appointed Noam Shazeerfounder of Character.AI, as co-chief technical officer of its flagship AI project, Gemini. Shazeer, who previously worked at Google and later co-founded Character.AI, returns to the tech giant alongside colleague Daniel De Freitas. The transition is part of a broader effort by Google to improve its AI research and development.
Shazeer’s return to Google was highly anticipated and involved a significant financial commitment. Reports indicate that Google paid billions to bring Shazeer and other key Character.AI employees into its DeepMind division. This move also included a licensing agreement with Character.AI, underscoring Google’s investment in advancing artificial intelligence technology.
Gemini, developed by Google’s artificial intelligence division DeepMind, is a series of large language models that power several applications, including Gemini ChatbotGoogle Search and Pixel smartphones. Shazeer will join Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals as co-directors of the Gemini project. In a memo, Shazeer expressed his excitement about joining the team, highlighting Gemini’s potential as a revolutionary technology.
Google’s decision to rehire Shazeer reflects a broader trend among tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoftwho are also actively acquiring top-tier AI talent. Despite considering an investment in Character.AI, Google opted to bring Shazeer back to the company. This strategic move aims to integrate his expertise directly into Google’s AI initiatives.
Shazeer joined Google in 2000 and in 2017 co-authored a research paper that significantly contributed to the current AI boom. Character.AI, which he co-founded in 2021, has raised $193 million and was valued at $1 billion last year. The company will continue to grow and focus on personalized AI products thanks to increased funding from Google.
The collaboration between Shazeer and Google’s DeepMind team promises exciting advances in AI, with potential impacts on a wide range of Google products and services.
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