DeepMind is an artificial intelligence (AI) company acquired by Google in 2014. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has announced that DeepMind will merge with Google’s Brain team to form Google DeepMind. DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will head this new collaboration. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai shared in a post that the combined groups will significantly accelerate their progress in AI.
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The Legacy and Achievements of DeepMind and Google Brain
DeepMind is renowned for creating AI capable of outperforming humans in complex games like Go and Chess, and for applying its technology to healthcare research. The company’s work has been hailed as a major breakthrough in AI development, earning numerous awards for its achievements.
Google Brain is a deep learning AI research team under the umbrella of Google AI, established in 2011. The team focused on combining open-ended machine learning research with information systems and large-scale computing resources. It developed tools such as TensorFlow, allowing the public use of neural networks, and conducted multiple internal AI research projects. Google Brain aimed to create research opportunities in machine learning and natural language processing.
New Leadership Roles and Vision for Google DeepMind
DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will take on the role of CEO for Google DeepMind. According to Pichai, Hassabis will “lead the development of our most capable and responsible general AI systems.” Jeff Dean, the former senior vice president of Google Research and Health and the co-founder of the Brain team, will become Google Research and Google DeepMind’s chief scientist.
A New Chapter in AI Research and Development
The merger of DeepMind and Google Brain will further enhance Google’s AI research and development capabilities. In a memo to employees, Hassabis emphasized the collaboration between Google DeepMind and other Google Product Areas as an opportunity to “deliver AI research and products that dramatically improve the lives of billions of people, transform industries, advance science, and serve diverse communities.”
Hassabis believes that the creation of Google DeepMind will accelerate the path to a future of increasingly capable and general AI, developed safely and responsibly. Addressing the hardest scientific and engineering challenges of our time, Google DeepMind aims to make a significant impact on the AI landscape.
Learn More: DeepMind Open Sources Dataset to Measure the Reasoning Ability of Neural Networks
The Road to Commercialization and Integration
DeepMind’s long-standing bid for more independence from Google reportedly ended as the tech giant pushed the company toward commercializing its work. As Google further expands into the AI industry, merging its research teams appears to be a strategic move to strengthen its efforts in this domain.
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According to Hassabis, the newly formed company will focus on building “ever more capable and general AI, safely and responsibly” by tackling “some of the hardest scientific and engineering challenges of our time.”
Our Say
The merger of DeepMind and Google Brain marks a new era in the research and development of artificial intelligence. As envisioned by Pichai, Google DeepMind will take on ambitious goals under the leadership of Demis Hassabis and Jeff Dean. By combining their expertise and resources, Google aims to make significant strides in AI technology and its practical applications, transforming industries and impacting the lives of billions of people around the world.
