hiring

You can listen to the audio version of the article above.

It looks like Microsoft is ramping up its AI efforts and poaching some serious talent from Google’s DeepMind in the process! The AI wars are heating up, with Microsoft going head-to-head with giants like OpenAI, Salesforce, and Google.

Microsoft’s AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman, who has a history with DeepMind, just snagged three top researchers from his former employer: Marco Tagliasacchi, Zalán Borsos, and Matthias Minderer. These folks will be leading Microsoft’s new AI office in Zurich, Switzerland.

This move shows how competitive the AI landscape is becoming. Companies are vying for the best talent to gain an edge in this rapidly developing field. It’ll be interesting to see what these new hires bring to Microsoft and how they contribute to the company’s AI ambitions. With Suleyman at the helm, and now with this injection of DeepMind expertise, Microsoft is clearly signaling its intent to be a major player in the future of AI.

It seems like Microsoft has a real knack for attracting DeepMind talent! This latest hiring spree isn’t a one-off; it’s part of a larger trend. Just last December, Microsoft poached several key DeepMind employees, including Dominic King, who now heads up their AI health unit.

This suggests that Microsoft is strategically targeting DeepMind as a source of top-tier AI talent. It could be due to DeepMind’s reputation for groundbreaking research and development in AI, or perhaps it’s a cultural fit. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that Microsoft sees value in bringing DeepMind expertise in-house.

This continuous recruitment of DeepMind employees could give Microsoft a significant advantage in the AI race. It allows them to quickly build up their AI capabilities and potentially gain access to valuable knowledge and insights from a leading competitor. It also raises questions about Google’s ability to retain its top talent in the face of aggressive poaching from rivals like Microsoft.

The AI landscape is constantly shifting, and these talent acquisitions could play a crucial role in determining which companies come out on top. It will be fascinating to see how this ongoing “brain drain” from DeepMind to Microsoft impacts the future of AI development and innovation.

Microsoft is strategically building out its AI capabilities with these new hires. Tagliasacchi and Borsos, with their expertise in audio and experience with Google’s AI-powered podcast, will likely be focused on developing innovative audio features for Microsoft’s products and services. This could involve things like enhancing speech recognition, improving audio quality in virtual meetings, or even creating entirely new audio-based experiences.

Minderer, with a focus on vision, could be working on anything from improving image recognition and generation to developing more immersive augmented reality experiences.

These specific roles suggest that Microsoft is looking to strengthen its AI capabilities across multiple modalities, including audio and vision. This could be a sign that they’re aiming to create more comprehensive and integrated AI experiences, potentially leading to new products and services that seamlessly combine different AI technologies.

It’s also interesting to note that Tagliasacchi and Borsos were involved in a project that used AI to generate podcast-like content. This could hint at Microsoft’s interest in exploring the use of AI for content creation and potentially even venturing into new media formats.

Overall, these strategic hires suggest that Microsoft is serious about its AI ambitions and is actively building a team with diverse expertise to drive innovation across different areas of AI development.

Here’s what the two new Microsoft employees said about their new roles:

“I have joined Microsoft AI as a founding member of the new Zurich office, where we are assembling a fantastic team. I will be working on vision capabilities with colleagues in London and the US, and I can’t wait to get started. There’s lots to do!” — Matthias Minderer

“Pleased to announce I have joined Microsoft AI as a founding member of the new Zurich office. I will be working on audio, collaborating with teams in London and the US. AI continues to be a transformative force, with audio playing a critical role in shaping more natural, intuitive, and immersive interactions. Looking forward to the journey ahead.” — Marco Tagliasacchi