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In an apposite reaction to the escalating arms race in AI, Google inked a whopping contract to rehire Noam Shazeer, the co-founder of Character.AI and a former senior AI engineer, for a huge sum that analysts say stood at $2.7 billion. Shazeer joined under a very high-stakes contract that speaks of their aggressive policy to maintain their winning edge in the lucrative race for AI application development.
Noam Shazeer, one of the early architects of large language models, after a considerable amount of time arguing with his employer over the release of a chatbot called Meena, left Google in 2021. Following a refusal by Google to launch a bot, citing safety concerns, Shazeer co-founded Character.ai with his mate, Daniel De Freitas. Their AI startup managed to gain traction and was valued at over $1 billion by 2023.
Shazeer made tremendous contributions to AI, with his work at Google laying the groundwork for large language models, which later bolstered technologies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. As Shazeer has stated, “I have invented much of the modern revolution in large language models,” in which he highlights his immense contribution in moulding AI, as we know it today.
Google’s Bid: Why $2.7 Billion?
Market sources reveal that the hefty price of $2.7 billion is part of a licensing deal rather than a full acquisition of Character.AI. This strategic move allows Google to access cutting-edge technologies from Character.AI while allowing Shazeer, joined by some of his leading research team members, back into DeepMind’s environment of AI.
This move is perceived to be Google’s knee-jerk reaction toward extremely hardening competition in AI, and in particular, with rivals such as OpenAI and Microsoft making significant strides forward. Shazeer’s return would certainly stimulate Google’s efforts on AI, notably on large language modeling and chatbot development.
Eric Schmidt, the ex-CEO of Google, praised Shazeer’s vision by saying, “If there’s anybody in the world who could create human-like AI, it’s going to be him.” The weight of these endorsements speaks to the stakes involved in bringing Shazeer back, in order to take the challenge to ChatGPT which divided the opening from Google for not heeding to back Meena.
AI Talent Wars: A Broader Trend
Investments such as this one with a big commercial handshake in bringing Shazeer back is emblematic among some tech giants battling to snatch up the very best of AI minds at almost any cost. Microsoft and Amazon have also made bids of immense sums next to these AI experts. The AI battleground is a fight where language modeling quality and system development afford multi-billion dollar worth.
Yet, some investors are now worried about the impact these massive deals will have on profitability. While Shazeer wasn’t the only one who ended up with a slice of the $2.7 billion pie, at least his portion was enough to be huge, even if the startup is not completely on the market. This questions again, bigtime, the rationale for such huge expenditures on AI talent; some are renitent whether such investments will ever achieve vindication.
What’s Next for Google and AI?
With Shazeer back on board, Google is set to strengthen its AI capabilities in chatbot technology and large language models. This deal is significant, somewhat, in showing how fierce the competition has become and how huge the sums turn large are willing to pay in that race.
With the AI revolution underway, this bet of $2.7 billion highlights the tech tenants at Google’s belief to get back its bearings in that sector in coming years. Time, however, would tell if this was a great gamble or an exaggeration of the impact one person can have on a constantly evolving industry.
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