Google AI Chief Defends Company’s Slow Pace Against Runaway Success of ChatGPT

The explosive growth of ChatGPT over the past eight months has spurred an artificial intelligence arms race involving some of the world’s biggest companies. But the innovation and rapid consumer adoption also raised questions about why other companies, especially Google, struggled to achieve a similar level of critical mass for their AI products. And after Microsoft closed ranks with ChatGPT creator, OpenAI, through product integration and a hefty $10 billion investment, Google shareholders became increasingly interested in the latter’s AI strategy and product suites — and, specifically, why they weren’t out in the open.

But speaking with The Verge in a new interview, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind which oversees the company’s AI push, admitted that ChatGPT’s success did energize Google's own AI efforts. Public reaction to ChatGPT “confirmed that AI has entered a new era,” Hassabis said. “[It] was surprising, not so much what the technology was… but the public’s appetite for that and obviously the buzz that generated.”

Until recently, Google’s AI efforts were split in two: Google Brain and DeepMind. Google Brain focused on developing large language models and other generative systems similar to OpenAI, while DeepMind, acquired in 2014, prioritized building what Hassabis called artificial general intelligence (AGI), which are models adaptable for wide-ranging functions such as games and protein-folding simulations.

“Google and Alphabet have always run like this: They let many flowers bloom… [and] it served them very well, and it’s allowed them to organically create incredible things and become the amazing company that it is today,” he added.

But in April, Google’s parent company, Alphabet merged both teams to consolidate talent and resources as the AI race accelerated. Hassabis explained that the consumer excitement and real-world usage of generative AI caused a shift at the company and it became clearer the behemoth had to streamline its products.

“When you recognize that shift, then I think that necessitates a change in your approach as to how you’re approaching the research and how much focus you’re having on products and those kinds of things,” Hassabis said.