Google announces major corporate changes to stay at the forefront of AI development

Google LLC is reorganizing key parts of its company, and it's no surprise to learn that the changes are being driven by its ambitions to become a leading company in artificial intelligence.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc., today announced in a blog post that the company will combine teams focused on building AI models across its Research and DeepMind divisions into a single organization. This will see Google's Responsible AI team, which focuses on AI safety, move from a research organization to the DeepMind division, with these experts joining the team responsible for designing, building, and training Gemini-generated AI models. will be able to collaborate more effectively with

In addition, the company is consolidating its platform and hardware teams into a single platform and device division, effectively integrating Android, Chrome, and ChromeOS platform development teams with hardware projects such as Pixel devices.

Pichai said the changes will “simplify decision-making” within the company and allow teams to move more quickly.

Streamlined AI development

Reuters reported that a reorganization of Google's AI team has made model development within the organization more efficient. Last year, the company merged its Brain division within its AI Research group with his DeepMind to create a larger AI team focused on model development.

In the future, the remaining teams within the AI ​​Research group will also be merged with DeepMind. Responsible AI teams are primarily responsible for building the rules for developing AI in a safe and ethical manner.

Business Insider reported that the move will give DeepMind head Demis Hassabis significantly more power. Before his merger with Brain and his DeepMind last year, Hassabis reportedly struggled to maintain and maintain DeepMind with greater independence; is at the center of his AI plans at Google.

Hassabis' DeepMind division is the developer of Google's Gemini generation AI model family. They were announced late last year and are helping the company compete with OpenAI and other fast-moving AI startups that are encroaching on Google's interests in search and other areas.

Pichai said in a blog post that the changes should give Google a competitive edge by “concentrating compute-intensive model building in one place.” Business Insider notes that the reorganization could also help reduce internal squabbles, with different teams reportedly competing against each other for access to Google Cloud's computing resources. states.

Moving platforms and devices

A merger of Google's two largest product divisions was announced on the same day, with the Devices and Services group, responsible for developing hardware products such as Pixel smartphones and Fitbit wearables, merging with the organization that runs Android and Chrome. It turns out.

This is an equally big move, as these two divisions are among the largest within Google and will now be brought together under the larger “Platforms and Devices” umbrella. Rick Osterloh, the head of this department, previously oversaw hardware development and has amassed more authority within the company. Hiroshi Lockheimer, who was head of the Android and Chrome groups, will remain at Google, but he plans to focus on other projects, Pichai said.

The move will likely give Google's Pixel team far more influence and greater access to resources than before, The Information reports. The Android unit has traditionally always been much more important than the Pixel, spearheading the development of all smartphones worldwide other than Apple Inc. devices, including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. phones. The report points out. Thanks to his Android unit, Google is able to pre-install all major applications such as Google Search and Google Play Store on all his Android smartphones, generating huge revenue for the company.

In contrast, Pixel has a small market share, primarily acting as a kind of insurance policy against Google in case Samsung decides to discontinue Android and develop its own operating system, and also as a It has also played a role in pushing device manufacturers to become more competitive. .

However, with Android's market share in key regions such as the US declining and Pixel sales unable to make up for it, Pichai apparently decided to make a change, resulting in Pixel development slowing down. It should be given higher priority.

The changes will no doubt cause concern for Samsung, but Pichai did his best to reassure Samsung that the reorganization will help it deliver new innovations to its partners more quickly.

It remains to be seen whether Samsung can be convinced that increased focus on Pixel devices will somehow benefit it, but it's possible that Google has other things in mind for the Pixel team. There is enough sex. According to The Information, Pichai is concerned that his AI is driving the development of a new class of devices, with OpenAI working to build its own AI-powered hardware, Meta Platforms Inc. and others. companies are reportedly considering developing more powerful wearable devices using AI. This suggests that today's reorganization could allow Google's Android and AI teams to work more effectively with the Pixel team to develop Google-branded devices that counter these developments.

This may explain why another executive, Sameer Samat, has been promoted to president of the Android ecosystem to lead Google's collaboration with Android partners. His work primarily involves maintaining the firewall between his Pixel group and his Android group at Google. This is the main way the company avoids giving its hardware products special treatment over those of its partners.

Osterloh told The Verge that there are many reasons for the reorganization, and of course AI is one of them. The executive said the combination of Google's hardware team and Android group will allow the company to “run full-stack innovation when needed.” He gives the example of his Pixel smartphone camera, which requires the designer to have in-depth knowledge of all layers of his system's hardware and software stack.

Google is likely to further streamline its internal operations as AI becomes more important to the company. Earlier this week, Ruth Porat, Google's president, chief investment officer and chief financial officer, announced via an internal memo that there would be changes to the company's finance team and expected unannounced layoffs. Porat said the change was necessary as Google realigns its priorities around AI.

Photo: Google