Recently, Google spent a staggering $2.7 billion to bring back an AI expert, Noam Shazeer, who left the company in 2021 to start his own startup, Character.AI. This company allows users to interact with role-playing chatbots and has become quite popular.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, the primary reason for Google's hefty payment was to lure Shazeer back. While the official explanation was to acquire his technology license, insiders generally believe the money was mainly to have Shazeer work for Google again. This highlights the determination of tech companies to gain an advantage in the current AI competition by spending heavily.
Many investors express concern, especially about companies like Google and Microsoft burning through money without seeing returns. They question whether it's really worth spending such a huge amount of money to secure an expert, or if this is creating a bubble that is about to burst.
It's worth noting that Shazeer did not directly receive the $2.7 billion from Google, but he did profit tens of millions from his startup. For him, this income is considerable, as he did not sell his company. Shazeer was an important figure in Google's early AI development, and a paper he co-authored in 2017 is considered the beginning of modern large-scale language models. Shazeer is also not shy about boasting on social media, claiming to have "invented much of the current large-scale language model revolution."
When Shazeer left in 2021, Google refused to release a chatbot named "Meena" due to security reasons, a decision that was seen as a huge mistake, as OpenAI's ChatGPT quickly gained widespread attention the following year.
Now, with Shazeer's return to Google, tech giants in Silicon Valley are fiercely competing for AI research talent. For example, Amazon hired executives from the startup Adept through a technology licensing agreement in June. Despite the heavy investment in AI technology by various companies, investors continue to question: Is it really worth it?
Key points:
💰 Google paid a shocking $2.7 billion to rehire AI expert Noam Shazeer.
🔍 Shazeer's startup, Character.AI, also profited tens of millions from this deal.
🤖 Silicon Valley tech giants are competing to secure AI research talent, with market bubble concerns emerging.
