Google's $2.7 billion investment to rehire AI genius Noam Shazeer attracts attention

Google's $2.7 billion deal with AI expert Noam Shazeer is the latest and most spectacular check in a series of lucrative hiring transactions by technology leaders vying for coveted talent in the field of artificial intelligence.

Shazeer is the co-author of a key research paper that launched the artificial intelligence boom. He joined Google in 2000 as one of its first few hundred employees, but left in 2021 to start his own company after the tech giant refused to unveil a chatbot he had developed.

The AI ​​“genius” went on to publicly slam his former employer, claiming that Google had become overly risk-averse in developing artificial intelligence before founding his own AI startup, Character.AI.

Google said it paid Character about $2.7 billion in August to license the company's technology, but people with knowledge of the deal said The Wall Street Journal that the transaction contained an unofficial condition: Google wanted Shazeer back.

The AI ​​expert is now one of three people leading Google's efforts to develop the next version of its AI technology, Gemini.

Google declined to make Shazeer available for an interview, nor did he respond to requests for comment when contacted by the magazine.

Jesse Grant/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

The tech giant's agreement with Shazeer's company has embroiled the AI ​​leader in a growing debate in Silicon Valley about potential cost overruns in the AI ​​race.

Highly skilled talent is hard to find in this growing sector. And even though the tech industry has seen mass layoffs recently, industry leaders have spent millions to hire researchers, many of whom would otherwise only be in academia, to work on bringing artificial intelligence into new areas.

Some companies have already poached talent from competitors. For example, OpenAI offered Google employees a $10 million salary package in 2023 if they join Sam Altman's company. The Information reported that the company used similar tactics to attract employees from Meta.

Carlos Barria/Reuters

In March, Microsoft announced it had invested $650 million in a deal with AI startup Inflection, bringing the company's co-founders and some employees on board. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into Microsoft's “hiring decision” in June, amid concerns that the company's investment in Inflection represented an acquisition that the tech giant had failed to disclose to the government.

With the emergence of more reverse acqui-hires in the AI ​​industry, speculation has grown about possible increased scrutiny by regulators.