Google has appointed Noam Shazeer, the former leader of Character.AI and a long-time researcher at Google, to co-lead its primary AI initiative.

Shazeer will take on the role of technical lead for Gemini, collaborating with co-leaders Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals, as stated in a memo to employees. Gemini represents a series of AI models being developed by DeepMind, Google's AI division, which are being incorporated into various products, including Search and Pixel smartphones.

Shazeer recently returned to Google after founding Character.AI in 2021, with the tech giant investing billions to bring him and several other employees into DeepMind, alongside securing a licensing agreement with Character.AI.

In response to the memo, Shazeer expressed his enthusiasm in an email, stating, "We are thrilled to join the best team on earth building the most valuable technology on earth," as reported by Reuters. The memo was initially disclosed by The Information.

Shazeer originally joined Google in 2000, shortly after its founding, and co-authored a pivotal research paper in 2017 that significantly influenced the current AI landscape.

Character.AI has leveraged the advancements from this paper, raising $193 million and achieving a valuation of $1 billion last year from venture capitalists.

Although Google was reportedly in discussions to invest hundreds of millions in Character.AI, it ultimately opted to bring Shazeer back.

This strategy mirrors similar efforts by Amazon and Microsoft to attract top talent from AI startups, occurring amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of major tech firms. While these moves are not acquisitions, they are under review by the Federal Trade Commission.

Recently, a U.S. judge ruled that Google’s search engine practices violated antitrust laws, leading to significant financial implications for the company.