Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of Google DeepMind, has joined Microsoft. Suleyman revealed his plans to join Microsoft as the CEO of a new team responsible for managing the company’s consumer-facing AI products, such as Edge, Bing, and Copilot, in a post on X.
TakeAway Points:
- Microsoft has hired Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of Google DeepMind.
- Suleyman will be EVP and CEO of Microsoft AI and join the senior leadership team (SLT).
- Microsoft AI is focused on advancing Copilot and our other consumer AI products and research.
Microsioft Hires Co-founder of Google DeepMind
The new organization called Microsoft AI, is focused on advancing Copilot and our other consumer AI products and research.
Suleyman will join the senior leadership group of the business, which answers directly to CEO Satya Nadella, and assume the role of executive vice president of Microsoft AI. In 2010, Suleyman co-founded the AI research group DeepMind, which Google eventually purchased in 2014.
However, Microsoft has hired Suleyman in addition to some of Inflection AI’s staff members, such as co-founder Karén Simonyan, who will head the consumer AI group’s scientific department. Kevin Scott, the executive vice president of AI at Microsoft, will continue to serve in these roles.
“I’m very excited to announce that Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan are joining Microsoft to form a new organization called Microsoft AI, focused on advancing Copilot and our other consumer AI products and research.” Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer Microsoft said this in a memo to employees published by Microsoft.
She further stated that:
“I’ve known Mustafa for several years and have greatly admired him as a founder of both DeepMind and Inflection, and as a visionary, product maker, and builder of pioneering teams that go after bold missions. We have a real shot to build technology that was once thought impossible and that lives up to our mission to ensure the benefits of AI reach every person and organization on the planet, safely and responsibly.” Nadella added.
Google DeepMind
According to a report, within Google, DeepMind continues to be a leading AI force. Suleyman has not been a member of the division in a long time, though. According to a Bloomberg article, he was put on leave in 2019 due to controversies surrounding some of the initiatives he managed. Later, according to the Wall Street Journal, Suleyman was the subject of an investigation by Google and DeepMind after employees complained that he was bullying them.
Suleyman was appointed vice president of AI product management and AI policy by Google following his placement on leave at DeepMind. In 2022, Suleyman departed from Google to become a co-founder of the startup Inflection AI.
Microsoft Partnerships
Microsoft recently signed a contract with AI startup Mistral and has invested billions of dollars in its collaboration with OpenAI. The creation of a new AI unit does not imply that Microsoft is no longer interested in these collaborations.
Microsoft says it “will continue to build AI infrastructure inclusive of custom systems and silicon work in support of OpenAI’s foundation model roadmap, and build products on top of their foundation models.”
Following the release of Bing Chat (now Copilot) last year, Microsoft has expanded the use of its AI assistant to include Windows 11, Edge, and Office applications. Prior to the commencement of its Build conference in May, Microsoft has scheduled a special AI event, during which it is expected to disclose additional information regarding its AI goals for Windows and its Surface devices.
