In an exciting move for the field of artificial intelligence (AI), Google has announced the merging of their Brain team from Google Research with their DeepMind team to create a unified, AI-focused group called Google DeepMind.
This new venture is set to accelerate the progress of AI research and development, as Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, explained in a blog post. By bringing together the considerable talents of both teams and leveraging Google’s vast computational resources, the hope is that they will be able to make significant strides in creating ever-more advanced and general AI models.
Heading up the Google DeepMind team will be Demis Hassabis, who was the co-founder and CEO of the original DeepMind research team at Google. Meanwhile, Jeff Dean, who previously led Google Research, will take on the role of Chief Scientist and report directly to Pichai. Together, Hassabis and Dean will be tasked with setting the direction of AI research at Google and overseeing the development of critical and strategic AI projects.
Hassabis has emphasized the importance of creating a more focused team, explaining in a separate blog post that this is necessary to overcome the significant scientific and engineering challenges that AI presents. By working with greater speed, collaboration, and execution, and simplifying decision-making processes, he believes that Google DeepMind can reach their goals faster and more efficiently.
As Google DeepMind takes on the mantle of developing the next wave of AI breakthroughs, Google Research will focus on other important areas, such as algorithms and theory, privacy and security, quantum computing, health, climate, sustainability, and responsible AI challenges. This division of labor will enable both teams to concentrate on their specific areas of expertise, potentially driving innovation and progress in multiple fields.
Google acquired DeepMind in 2014, and since then, the AI research group has achieved numerous impressive milestones, such as teaching computers to converse like humans, mastering the game of Go, and even assisting with nuclear fusion experiments. They have also developed an AI system that can code as well as a human programmer.
With the formation of Google DeepMind, the tech giant is positioning itself to become a leading force in the field of AI, taking on rivals like OpenAI and ChatGPT. The potential for new and exciting breakthroughs in the coming years is vast, and it will be fascinating to see what the unified team at Google DeepMind can achieve.
