Sergey Brin Rejoins Google to Focus on AI Project Gemini

Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, has returned to the Google office in Mountain View, California after a four-year retirement from his position as president of Alphabet, the parent company. Reports indicate that Brin is now involved in a significant project known internally as Gemini, which is a highly ambitious general-purpose AI platform.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the billionaire has been seen visiting Google’s headquarters three to four days a week. The report also claims that Brin is working on developing the company’s next big AI.

Citing unnamed sources, the report also highlighted that the Google founder attended the meetings as early as last year, but their frequency has increased in recent months. The company is believed to be close to a pivotal moment when it can make a breakthrough with a general-purpose AI model that can compete with OpenAI’s GPT-4.

The same sources also revealed that Demis Hassabis, Google’s Project Gemini manager, has told other employees that the product could be launched later in 2023.

Google’s Gemini AI

Not much is known about Google’s secret AI project because things are kept tightly under wraps, but the report mentions that Gemini is a basic model that powers other AI models. For comparison, it’s like a GPT template that works with ChatGPT.

General purpose AI can help build a variety of AI products that can work in many different fields to automate tasks. For example, Google’s PaLM 2 is a general-purpose AI model that has spawned a number of tools such as MusicLM, NotebookLM, and more. It’s not known how it differs from PaLM 2 and the new features it adds to Google’s AI arsenal.

That’s why Brin’s joining the project is seen as an important moment, as he can steer the company in the right direction. WSJ sources said CEO Sundar Pichai is also excited about the founder’s involvement in the project and has encouraged his contributions.