For years, Google has published scientific studies that have helped its competitors leapfrog. But now we’re in defensive mode. From the report: In February, Jeff Dean, Google’s longtime head of artificial intelligence, announced a surprising shift in policy for his staff. For years, Dean has run his department like a university, encouraging researchers to publish academic papers in large numbers. According to the Google Research website, they have pushed nearly 500 studies since his 2019. But that changed with the launch of OpenAI’s groundbreaking ChatGPT, which was three months before him. The San Francisco startup is catching up to Google by reading the team’s scientific papers, Dean said at the company’s research division’s quarterly meeting. Indeed, Transformers, a cornerstone of modern AI technology and his T for ChatGPT, stems from Google’s research.
Things had to change. According to two of his people, who spoke on condition of anonymity on the condition that they share confidential information, Google will take advantage of its own AI discoveries and publish papers only after lab work turns into products. said Dean. The policy change is part of a larger change within Google. Long regarded as the leader in AI, the tech giant has gone into defensive mode. First to fend off agile AI competitors, now to protect the future that our core search business, stock prices and, eventually, executives have. He is said to be intertwined with AI. In op-eds, podcasts and TV appearances, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is calling attention to his AI. “On a social scale, it can cause a lot of harm,” he warned in April’s “60 Minutes,” explaining how technology facilitates the creation of fake images and videos. But according to interviews with 11 current and former Google employees, Google has overhauled its AI operations in recent months with the goal of releasing products faster.