What you need to know
- Microsoft has hired Google DeepMind's co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to oversee all things AI.
- He co-founded DeepMind back in 2010, which Google then acquired in 2014. Following this, he was appointed as Google's vice president of AI product management and AI police.
- Suleman, along with his Chief Scientist Karén Simonyan, will now form a new organization called Microsoft AI.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday (Mar.19) that it has hired Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of Google DeepMind, to lead its consumer AI division.
As spotted by the Verge, Suleman took to X to announce his new role, stating that "I’ll be leading all consumer AI products and research, including Copilot, Bing, and Edge." According to the post, Suleyman will also serve as executive vice president of Microsoft AI and join the company’s senior leadership team.
Suleyman co-founded DeepMind in 2010, which Google later acquired in 2014. Suleyman was also involved in a controversy in 2019, after which Google placed him on leave. Later, he was appointed Google's vice president of AI product management and AI police.
In 2022, Suleyman departed Google and co-founded a startup called Inflection AI, which he says will "continue on its mission under a new CEO and look to reach more people than ever by making its API widely available to developers and businesses the world over."
I’m excited to announce that today I’m joining @Microsoft as CEO of Microsoft AI. I’ll be leading all consumer AI products and research, including Copilot, Bing and Edge. My friend and longtime collaborator Karén Simonyan will be Chief Scientist, and several of our amazing…March 19, 2024
Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadala also sent out a memo to his employees announcing the recent addition to the AI table.
"This is about science, engineering, product, and design coming together and embracing a learning mindset to push our innovation culture and product-building process forward in fundamental ways."
Nadala confirmed that Suleyman and Karén Simonyan, also from AI Inflection, will join Microsoft to form a new organization called Microsoft AI. This organization will focus on advancing Copilot and other consumer AI products and research. "Mustafa will be EVP and CEO of Microsoft AI and join the senior leadership team (SLT), reporting to me. Karén is joining this group as Chief Scientist, reporting to Mustafa," he added.
This move came after Microsoft tried to hire OpenAI's CEOs, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, to lead its AI team in November 2023. However, that acquisition didn't go as planned.
Microsoft is currently the largest shareholder in OpenAI, investing over $13 billion in the company since 2019, according to Time. OpenAI's ChatGPT tech, which rivals Google's own AI efforts such as Gemini, currently powers features such as Bing Chat, and it looks like Microsoft is planning to shift gears and further its own AI tech in the near future.
