Google reportedly spent an astounding $2.7 billion to bring back AI expert Noam Shazeer, a former employee who left the company in 2021 to start his venture.
Noam Shazeer, an important figure in Google’s early AI efforts, left the company to launch Character.AI, a startup that allows users to engage with chatbots representing well-known figures and fictional characters. While Google officially stated that the hefty sum was meant to license the startup’s technology, reports from The Wall Street Journal suggest that Shazeer’s return was the primary reason behind the $2.7 billion deal.
This massive investment highlights the skyrocketing costs tech companies are willing to incur in order to secure top AI talent. As Stanford AI Lab Director Christopher Manning remarked, “Noam is clearly a great person in that space. But is he 20 times as good as other people?” This sentiment encapsulates the broader debate about whether such high expenditures on individual expertise are justified.
Shazeer’s impact on AI is undeniable. A 2017 paper he coauthored is widely credited as a foundational work in the development of large language models, a major component of today’s AI systems. On his LinkedIn profile, Shazeer proudly asserts, “I have invented much of the current revolution in large language models,” underscoring his central role in the field.
Shazeer left Google after the company chose not to release a chatbot named Meena due to safety concerns. Ironically, just a year later, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, marking a missed opportunity for Google in the growing chatbot market. Now, Shazeer returns to Google as part of the company’s agreement with Character.AI, where he secured hundreds of millions of dollars from his stake in the startup, according to WSJ sources.
Google’s billion-dollar move is not an isolated case. Other tech giants are making similar plays to secure top AI researchers. For instance, Amazon entered into a technology licensing deal to hire top executives from the AI startup Adept in June 2024. This rush to corner the market is driven by the belief that a competitive advantage in AI will define the future of tech innovation.
However, these investments have raised concerns. The environmental costs of running AI systems and the uncertainty surrounding the technology’s full potential have led some investors to question the sustainability of these massive expenditures.