AI

Google Spends $2.7 Billion to Rehire Top AI Engineer in a Strategic Move

02 October 2024

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Zaker Adham

Summary

Google has spent a staggering $2.7 billion to bring back Noam Shazeer, a former AI engineer who left the company in frustration in 2021. This wasn’t a traditional acquisition but a strategic "reverse acqui-hire," allowing Google to rehire key talent without fully acquiring Character.AI, the company Shazeer co-founded after his departure.

This deal isn't just about money. It underscores Google's commitment to staying ahead in the increasingly competitive AI landscape. At a time when tech companies are laying off employees, Google’s willingness to spend billions on rehiring one person sends a strong message: AI is the future, and Google is prepared to invest whatever it takes to lead the race.

Why is Noam Shazeer So Important?

Noam Shazeer is no ordinary engineer. He co-authored the influential 2017 paper Attention is All You Need, which laid the foundation for AI models like ChatGPT and Google’s own Gemini. Shazeer and his colleague Daniel De Freitas also developed Meena, a chatbot designed to engage in intelligent conversations, which Google chose not to launch due to concerns over inappropriate responses. Frustrated with the decision, Shazeer left Google in 2021 and founded Character.AI.

Character.AI’s Success and Challenges Character.AI allowed users to interact with AI models that simulated conversations with fictional characters and even real celebrities. The platform was an early success, raising $43 million in seed funding. However, it faced financial challenges as the cost of maintaining the technology grew, and the platform’s focus began shifting toward AI-generated romantic interactions, which wasn’t the original vision.

Google's Strategic Move to Rehire Talent

In 2024, Google saw an opportunity and spent $2.7 billion to bring Shazeer, De Freitas, and the Character.AI team back into the fold. The "reverse acqui-hire" allowed Google to sidestep potential antitrust concerns that might have arisen with a full acquisition while securing crucial talent to drive its AI initiatives forward.

Shazeer’s return to Google places him at the helm of their major AI project, Gemini, alongside key figures like Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals. With Google in an all-out battle to lead in AI, securing top talent like Shazeer is essential.

Big Tech and AI Talent Acquisition

Google’s move follows a trend of tech giants scooping up top AI talent without triggering regulatory scrutiny. Similar deals include Microsoft’s $650 million partnership with Inflection AI and Amazon’s collaboration with Covariant. These moves raise questions about whether large companies are stifling innovation from smaller players by acquiring talent and technology on such a massive scale.

The balance of power in AI is shifting rapidly, and with this deal, Google has made it clear that they intend to stay ahead of the competition. However, the industry is watching closely to see how this affects innovation and competition in the AI space.