In a recent development, it has come to light that Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, has taken on a more hands-on approach to shaping the company’s AI strategy. According to a comprehensive report by the Wall Street Journal, Brin has been actively involved in the tech giant’s Mountain View, Calif., offices for the past few months, typically dedicating three to four days each week to this endeavor.
Although officially holding the position of a board member and being Alphabet’s second-largest individual shareholder after Larry Page, Brin’s focus has been on collaborating with researchers dedicated to developing Gemini, the cutting-edge foundation model of Google DeepMind.
Unveiled during I/O 2023 in May, Gemini is designed to be a multimodal and highly efficient model that seamlessly integrates tools and APIs, while also paving the way for future innovations such as memory and planning capabilities. Positioned as a rival to OpenAI’s GPT-4, Gemini is currently in its training phase, and the report indicates that it is expected to be made publicly available later this year, with various sizes and capabilities, following a similar approach to the release of PaLM 2.
Brin’s involvement spans various aspects of the AI research and development process. He has been deeply engaged in technical discussions, overseeing weekly internal meetings to assess new AI research, and participating in important research gatherings. Moreover, he has played an instrumental role in matters related to personnel, particularly in the recruitment of sought-after researchers.
Brin’s commitment to the AI domain is evident in his frequent presence at the new Charleston East building, where the AI teams are stationed, alongside CEO Sundar Pichai, who also maintains an office there. According to sources familiar with the matter, Pichai is enthusiastic about Brin’s active engagement and has been highly supportive, welcoming his valuable contributions to Google’s AI initiatives.