Google Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer joins OpenAI
What's the story
Noam Shazeer, Google's VP of engineering and co-lead of its Gemini AI models, has announced his decision to leave the tech giant. He will be joining OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. The move comes amid a fierce competition among top AI firms for talent as they race to develop more advanced models.
Return to Google
Shazeer's exit comes less than 2 years after rejoining Google
Shazeer's exit comes less than two years after he rejoined Google. In August 2024, the tech giant had brought back Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas to its DeepMind AI unit. The move was part of a deal with Character.AI, a start-up they co-founded after leaving Google in 2021 when the company refused to aggressively pursue their chatbot project idea.
AI advancements
Shazeer helped Gemini catch up to ChatGPT
In 2024, Google appointed Shazeer as the co-lead of its Gemini AI model's development. He has been credited with helping Gemini catch up to OpenAI's ChatGPT. "I'm incredibly proud of the amazing team at Google and everything we've built together," Shazeer said on X while expressing his excitement about joining OpenAI.
Company response
Google acknowledges Shazeer's contributions over the years
In a statement to Reuters, Google acknowledged Shazeer's contributions over the years. "We are grateful for Noam's meaningful contributions to Google over the years," it said. Shazeer first joined Google in 2000 and was a co-author of a landmark 2017 research paper that sparked the AI boom. His departure highlights the ongoing war for talent in Silicon Valley's tech industry.