Portrait of Noam Shazeer, cofounder and CEO of Character.AI, a
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Google Paid $2.7 Billion to Rehire Employee
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Google's recent $2.7 billion deal to rehire AI pioneer Noam Shazeer has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, highlighting the fierce competition for top AI talent and the lengths companies will go to secure it. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, this unprecedented move underscores the critical importance of AI expertise in today's technological landscape.

Google's $2.7B Rehire Deal

The unprecedented $2.7 billion licensing agreement between Google and Character.AI in August 2024 was primarily aimed at bringing Noam Shazeer back to the tech giant
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This deal granted Google immediate access to Character.AI's intellectual property while circumventing regulatory hurdles associated with full acquisitions
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As part of the agreement, Shazeer, along with co-founder Daniel De Freitas and other senior staff from Character.AI, joined Google's AI unit DeepMind
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The move highlights the intense competition for top AI talent, with Shazeer reportedly making hundreds of millions from his stake in Character.AI as part of the arrangement
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Noam Shazeer's AI Contributions

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Noam Shazeer's contributions to the field of artificial intelligence have been groundbreaking and far-reaching. As one of the co-authors of the seminal 2017 paper "Attention is All You Need," Shazeer helped introduce the transformer architecture that underpins many of today's most advanced AI models
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This work has been cited over 100,000 times by other researchers, establishing Shazeer as a key figure in modern AI development
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During his time at Google, Shazeer made significant advancements in AI technology:
  • He improved Google's search engine spelling corrector
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  • In 2017, he created Meena, a chatbot capable of engaging humans on a wide range of topics
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  • He co-developed an AI chatbot with colleague Daniel De Freitas that Google ultimately declined to release
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After leaving Google, Shazeer co-founded Character.AI, which quickly gained popularity for its ability to create AI models mimicking celebrities and fictional characters
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Now back at Google, Shazeer serves as a technical lead on the Gemini project, the company's next-generation AI model aimed at competing with rivals like OpenAI's ChatGPT
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Shazeer's Departure and Success

Noam Shazeer's departure from Google in 2021 stemmed from frustration over the company's reluctance to release a chatbot he had developed with colleague Daniel De Freitas
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This decision led Shazeer to co-found Character.AI, which quickly became a success story in the AI startup world. The platform, known for its AI chatbots capable of replicating various personalities and fictional characters, attracted approximately 20 million active monthly users
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Character.AI's rapid growth and innovative approach to conversational AI caught the attention of investors, leading to over $150 million in funding and a $1 billion valuation as of March 2024
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AI Industry Implications

The $2.7 billion deal to rehire Noam Shazeer highlights several significant trends in the AI industry. Top AI experts are now being treated like "star quarterbacks" in professional sports, with companies willing to pay enormous sums to secure their services
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This "reverse acqui-hire" strategy allows tech giants to bring in top talent while avoiding regulatory scrutiny associated with full acquisitions
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The massive investment demonstrates the serious focus on AI development by big tech companies, even amid layoffs in other areas. However, this approach has raised concerns about competition, as some worry these deals allow large companies to dominate the AI space by absorbing potential competitors
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The unprecedented nature of this rehiring deal underscores the immense value placed on top AI talent as the technology race intensifies among tech giants.
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Related
How are other tech companies responding to Google's $2.7 billion deal
What are the potential long-term effects of this hiring frenzy on the AI industry
How does this deal compare to other recent high-profile AI talent acquisitions
What strategies are companies using to attract top AI talent
How might this deal impact the future of AI research and development