Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced today that it is merging its two AI-focused research teams – DeepMind and Google Brain – into a single entity called Google DeepMind that will singlehandedly take over the firm’s initiative in this increasingly competed field.
In a blog post published earlier today and written by no other than the Chief Executive Officer of Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, the company revealed that the teams behind so many successful technological advancements such as AlphaGo and Transformers will now work under a single umbrella to keep pushing the company forward as both the public’s and commercial interests in this technology keep growing.
Moving forward, Google DeepMind will be headed by the co-founder of DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, who will be overseeing the development of capable AI models that can be monetized and used on the company’s ample suite of products.
Meanwhile, Jeff Dean, one of the co-founders of Google Brain, has been appointed as Alphabet’s Chief Scientist Officer and will report directly to Pichai from now on. Dean will set forth the vision and strategic approach of the entity to align its efforts to what the company as a whole is trying to achieve.
Some Background on DeepMind
Alphabet (GOOG) acquired the UK-based DeepMind back in 2014 from Hassabis and two other co-founders for a total of $500 million. A year after, the company formed Google Brain and the two teams have worked together to come up with powerful advancements in the field.
Empowered by Google’s cloud infrastructure, both DeepMind and Google Brain have managed to perform the required research and tests to develop capable AI models.
In 2021, a report indicated that DeepMind generated a pre-tax profit of $62 million from nearly $1.1 billion in revenue. The majority of the income that the company produces comes from subsidiaries of Alphabet that use its technology.
In a separate statement published on the DeepMind website, Hassabis acknowledged that AI research is “advancing exponentially”, probably referring to the powerful tools and models created by companies like the Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
Google is Falling Behind in the AI Race and DeepMind May Come to Solve That
Google has felt threatened by these advancements as they somehow jeopardize its dominance in the internet search industry considering that Microsoft (MSFT) recently released an AI-powered version of its competing product Bing.
Meanwhile, Alphabet’s response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT called Bard did not captivate the public and has reportedly been to the company. Some reports have pointed out that employees who have interacted with the solution have categorized it as a “liar, useless, and embarrassing”.
Thus far, Google has not been able to launch a product that can function similarly to ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude and it is not necessarily its goal to do so. However, coming up with powerful AI models that can be used to enhance its products is mandatory to stay competitive as Microsoft is already planning to release AI-powered versions of its most popular solutions including Office 365, Teams, Viva Sales, and Outlook.
Last month, Alphabet said that it was already incorporating AI tools into Google Workspace – the suite of products that compete directly with the productivity solutions offered by Microsoft. However, no specific date was given as to when the tools will be made available to all enterprise customers.
At this point in the AI race, it has become somehow obvious that the latest turn in the AI race caught Alphabet off guard as the company was not prepared for the wave of mainstream-focused products that have flooded the market since ChatGPT came out.
In contrast, Microsoft has been preparing for the rise of AI for years and has invested billions into developing the required computing power to support the volume of transactions that these solutions require to function adequately.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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