- Microsoft's Mustafa Suleiman and Google's Demis Hassabis were childhood friends.
- In 2010, the two co-founded DeepMind, which was later acquired by Google.
- The two are on opposite sides of the AI arms race between Big Tech's oldest rivals.
Google's Demis Hassabis and Microsoft's Mustafa Suleiman first met in London when the latter was still a student.
Suleiman, the son of a taxi driver, and Hassabis, a young chess prodigy, both grew up in different parts of north London.
The two are eight years apart, and Mr. Hassabis had already earned a degree in computer science from Cambridge University when he met Suleiman in the mid-1990s.
By 2010, the two co-founded DeepMind with fellow researcher Shane Legg. Then less than four years later, Google acquired the company for more than $500 million.
With Hassabis at the helm, Google DeepMind is at the forefront of Google's AI push.
Meanwhile, Suleiman, who will leave Google in 2022, will lead Microsoft's AI efforts.
From childhood friends to two of AI's most important players, two Londoners find themselves on opposite sides of an increasingly tense race between Big Tech's oldest rivals .
deep rivalry
Hassabis and Suleiman appear to view their relationship somewhat differently.
The young co-founder spent much of his career in the shadow of Hassabis, first at DeepMind and then at Google after acquiring an AI startup.
Speaking to the New York Times, Mr. Suleiman described his relationship with Mr. Hassabis as a “friendly and respectful rivalry.”
In a separate interview, Hassabis completely denied the idea of a rivalry with his former business partner. “Most of what he learned about AI came from working with me over the years,” Hassabis told the newspaper about Suleiman.
The two have worked together at DeepMind for over nine years. During that time, Hassabis served as the company's public face and CEO, largely leading the company's high-profile acquisition deal with Google.
Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO at the time of the acquisition, told Fast Company last year that he became acquainted with Suleiman after spending significant time with Hassabis.
“At the time, I didn't realize how good of an engineer he was, because in that sense Demise had surpassed him. He was kind of in Demise's shadow,” Schmidt said. . “But I think in the last few years he has come out of the shadows.”
At DeepMind, Mr. Suleiman first served as chief product officer and then as head of applied AI. In 2020, he finally joined Google, DeepMind's parent company, as vice president of AI product management and policy.
But Suleiman's attempt to definitively step out of Hassabis' shadow began when he left Google in 2022 to co-found Inflection AI.
Just two years later, Inflection was acquired by Microsoft, and Suleyman became the company's CEO of AI.
“Pretty unforgiving.”
Suleiman's tenure at DeepMind was not without controversy, with the DeepMind co-founder leaving Google in early 2022 to join venture capital firm Greylock Partners.
In a podcast interview on Greylock's website, Mr. Suleiman said when asked about complaints about his management style that he had “really failed.”
Suleiman described himself as “very demanding and quite persistent”, adding: “I think that created an environment where people basically had pretty unreasonable expectations about what was going to be delivered and when, and ended up being pretty demanding. And that's why some people… It created a very difficult environment.”
london calling
One of Suleyman's first moves as Microsoft's new head of AI was to launch an AI hub in London, where Google DeepMind is also based.
The move is part of a broader AI talent war between tech companies and sets the stage for a broader battle with Mr. Suleiman's old company.
“There is a huge pool of AI talent and expertise in the UK, and Microsoft AI will be making significant long-term investment in the region as we begin hiring the best AI scientists and engineers for this new AI hub. ,” Suleiman wrote. In the announcement.
The move could be a smart one for Microsoft, as big tech companies take notice of Google's high-quality AI talent pool.
Microsoft already has a presence in London, but the fact that the new hub is AI-focused and run by DeepMind's co-founders won't escape Hassabis' attention.
Representatives for Hassabis and Suleiman did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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