In an effort to maintain its competitive edge in the artificial intelligence sector, Google has decided to consolidate its AI research teams into a single unit called Google DeepMind. This new unit will include the existing DeepMind team and the Google Brain team from Google Research. It is expected to be headed by Koray Kavukcuoglu, Vice President of Research at DeepMind, while Eli Collins, the Vice President of Product at Google Research, will serve as Google DeepMind’s Vice President of Product. Zoubin Ghahramani, the lead of Google Brain, will be a part of the new research leadership team for DeepMind, reporting directly to Kavukcuoglu.
As part of the formation of Google DeepMind, the tech giant has set up a scientific board which will oversee the progress and direction of the unit. CEO and co-founder of DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, has said that Google DeepMind will be working closely with the different Google product areas to develop AI-based products and research. He also believes that this unit will create a new wave of world-changing breakthroughs.
Google acquired DeepMind in 2014 for an impressive $500 million. Since then, the lab has focused on making AI-based achievements. These include the development of AI to beat human professional Go players and to predict the structure of complex proteins.
Google has changed the shape of the tech industry with the introduction of its new research unit, Google DeepMind. It remains to be seen if the company can use its world-class talent to deliver successful products through the combined power of its computing power, infrastructure and resources.
