by In a notable move within the tech world, Noam Shazeer, co-founder and CEO of Character.AI, is returning to Google after a stint away. Shazeer, who previously led the team behind LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) at Google, had left in October 2021 to establish Character.AI, a chatbot startup funded by a16z. Now, he’s rejoining Google to contribute to its DeepMind research team.
Key Personnel Changes
Alongside Shazeer, Character.AI co-founder Daniel De Freitas is also making the transition back to Google. They’re joined by several other Character.AI team members. Dominic Perella, the general counsel at Character.AI, will step in as interim CEO of the startup. Despite these changes, Character.AI has stated that most of its staff will remain with the company.
New Agreements and Future Directions
In addition to Shazeer’s return, Google has signed a non-exclusive agreement with Character.AI to utilize its technology. This deal is expected to provide Character.AI with additional funding to further develop its AI products.
Shazeer expressed enthusiasm about his return, stating, “I am super excited to return to Google and work as part of the Google DeepMind team. I am proud of what we built at Character.AI and confident that this agreement positions Character.AI for continued success.”
Google’s Statement
Google has confirmed that Shazeer will join the DeepMind research team but has not specified the exact role he or De Freitas will assume. A Google spokesperson remarked, “We’re thrilled to welcome back Noam, a leading researcher in machine learning, to Google DeepMind’s research team. This agreement will enhance Character.AI’s growth and focus on developing personalized AI products globally.”
Character.AI’s Strategic Shift
Character.AI, which has raised over $150 million mainly from a16z, commented on the industry changes impacting its strategy. The company’s blog post noted that while its initial goal required a comprehensive approach to AI model development, the increasing availability of pre-trained models has shifted the landscape. As a result, Character.AI plans to leverage third-party LLMs (large language models) more extensively, allowing it to concentrate on refining its product experiences.
Regulatory Scrutiny
This high-profile personnel shift may attract attention from regulatory bodies. For instance, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has previously investigated Microsoft’s hiring of key personnel from Inflection AI. Similarly, the FTC has scrutinized Microsoft’s $650 million acquisition deal. As such, regulators might closely examine these latest moves involving Character.AI and Google.
The return of Shazeer to Google and the subsequent changes at Character.AI highlight the dynamic nature of the AI industry and the ongoing evolution of technology partnerships and market strategies.
