Google VP Noam Shazeer Leaves to Join OpenAI
Google's VP of engineering and co-lead of Gemini, Noam Shazeer, is leaving to join OpenAI. Shazeer, a 26-year Google veteran, announced his departure on Twitter. The move comes after a licensing deal between Google and Character.ai, where Shazeer previously served as CEO. Google expressed gratitude for Shazeer's contributions, while details of his new role at OpenAI remain unclear.
Key points
- Noam Shazeer, Google's VP of engineering and co-lead of Gemini, is leaving Google to join OpenAI.
- Shazeer announced his departure on Twitter, citing a difficult decision to move on from Google.
- He previously served as CEO of Character.ai from 2021 to 2024, before returning to Google.
- Google expressed gratitude for Shazeer's meaningful contributions over the years.
- Details of Shazeer's new role at OpenAI remain unclear, but he looks forward to working with the exceptional team.
Noam Shazeer, Google's Vice President of engineering and co-lead of Gemini, has announced his departure from the company to join OpenAI. In a post on Twitter, Shazeer expressed his excitement to join the exceptional team at OpenAI, but also acknowledged the difficult decision to leave Google.
Shazeer has been a key figure at Google for over 26 years, serving as a software engineer from 2000 to 2021 and later as CEO of Character.ai from 2021 to 2024. He returned to Google in 2024, taking on the role of co-lead of Gemini and VP of engineering.
Google has expressed gratitude for Shazeer's meaningful contributions to the company over the years. While details of Shazeer's new role at OpenAI remain unclear, the move is likely to be closely watched in the tech industry.
The timing of Shazeer's departure comes after a licensing deal between Google and Character.ai, where Shazeer previously served as CEO. The deal was made in 2024, and it is unclear whether it played a role in Shazeer's decision to leave Google for OpenAI.
Sources
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