Did Google Go All In... Betting 3.6 Trillion Won on Departed AI Genius?

Hired Former Generative AI Expert
"License Agreement Signed for 3.6 Trillion Won"
"Excessive Spending on Talent Acquisition" Criticism Also Raised

Noam Shazir [Photo by Noam Shazir SNS account]

As the competition among big tech companies to secure talent in the artificial intelligence (AI) field intensifies, Google has rehired a former employee.

On the 25th (local time), the US daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing multiple anonymous sources, that "Google has signed a $2.7 billion (approximately 3.6 trillion KRW) contract with the AI startup Character.AI (hereafter Character)." Google stated that it "entered into a technology licensing agreement with Character," but it is presumed that the main reason for paying such a large licensing fee was Noam Shazeer (48), who previously worked there.

Shazeer joined Google in 2000 and co-authored pioneering research papers that laid the foundation for generative AI technology in 2017. He also developed a chatbot named 'Mina,' claiming it could replace Google's existing search engine services. However, when the company did not release it to the public citing safety concerns, Shazeer left Google in 2021 and founded a startup. He has criticized Google in the past, saying it had become "too risk-averse in AI development."

However, Character was reportedly struggling due to intensified competition with big tech companies like Microsoft (MS) and high development costs. Ultimately, Google took this opportunity to successfully rehire Shazeer. He is currently working at Google with the title of Vice President, leading the next-generation version of the AI model Gemini. Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder who played a key role in bringing Shazeer back, said that Google "used to be too cautious about using AI applications, but now it is developing and launching them as quickly as possible," calling Shazeer's return "amazing." Meanwhile, Google declined interview requests regarding Shazeer, and Shazeer’s side reportedly did not make any separate statements.

Meanwhile, as competition for AI talent has recently intensified, companies like Microsoft and Amazon have also recruited talent through technology licensing agreements with startups. This has led some to criticize that "big tech companies are overspending."