DeepMind Merges with Google’s Brain Team to Create Google DeepMind
Google has announced that DeepMind, a top machine learning and AI research lab, is being folded into “Google DeepMind,” which includes the Brain team from Google Research. The move is designed to accelerate the progress of AI significantly. It marks Google’s latest reorganization in response to rapid developments in AI.
Goals Accomplishments of DeepMind
DeepMind’s notable accomplishments from the past decade include AlphaGo, Transformers, word2vec, WaveNet, AlphaFold, sequence-to-sequence models, distillation, deep reinforcement learning, distributed systems, and software frameworks like TensorFlow and JAX. These accomplishments have been at the forefront of research and development in artificial intelligence.
The merger is intended to accelerate Google’s progress in AI and develop more capable and responsible general AI systems for the next generation of products and services. DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will become the CEO and leader of the new group. At the same time, Jeff Dean will take on the elevated role of Google’s Chief Scientist for Google Research and Google DeepMind, reporting to Sundar Pichai.
Key Players and Brain Teams
Demis Hassabiswill continues working on fundamental advances in computer science across areas such as algorithms and theory, privacy and security, quantum computing, health, climate and sustainability, and responsible AI. The Google Research team will report to SVP of Technology and Society James Manyika.
The Brain team, focused on AI and machine learning, is being merged with DeepMind to bring the two groups focused on artificial intelligence closer together. DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014 for $500 million and has been run as an independent unit out of the U.K.
DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will lead the development of “the most capable and responsible general AI systems.” Jeff Dean, former SVP of Google Research and Health and co-founder of the Brain team, will serve as chief scientist for both Google Research and Google DeepMind. Hassabis believes that by creating Google DeepMind, the company can solve some of the most demanding scientific and engineering challenges and get to the future faster.
DeepMind’s History and Accomplishments
DeepMind was founded in September 2010 by Demis Hassabis, Shane Legg, and Mustafa Suleyman after meeting at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London (UCL). The founders began working on AI technology by teaching it to play old games from the 70s and 80s, such as Breakout, Pong, and Space Invaders, introducing one game at a time without prior knowledge of its rules. After learning the game, AI would eventually become an expert in it using cognitive processes similar to those of a human attempting to master it.
The founders aim to create a general-purpose AI that can be useful and effective for almost anything. Central venture capital firms Horizons Ventures and Founders Fund and entrepreneurs Scott Banister, Peter Thiel, and Elon Musk invested in the company, and Jaan Tallinn, an early investor, and adviser. In 2014, Google acquired DeepMind for $500 million, renaming it Google DeepMind for two years.
DeepMind’s Focus on Ethics and Society
DeepMind has been committed to developing ethical and responsible AI systems. The company established an artificial intelligence ethics board. DeepMind, together with Amazon, Google, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft, is a founding member of Partnership on AI, an organization devoted to the society-AI interface.
DeepMind is focused on advancing AI technology and the ethical and societal questions raised by artificial intelligence. The company has opened a new unit called DeepMind Ethics and Society and focused on these questions. It is also part of the Partnership on AI, an organization devoted to the society-AI interface.
Source- deepmind.com, 9to5google.com, en.wikipedia.org, cnbc.com
