Aug 22, 2023 06:00:00

Why did the researchers who developed `` Transformer '' that had a great impact on the progress of generative AI left Google?

In 2017, eight Google researchers announced '

Transformer ', a neural network architecture that supports various generative AI such as ChatGPT and Midjourney these days. However, it is reported that all researchers involved in the development of Transformer have retired from Google.

Ex-Google Scientists Kickstarted the Generative AI Era of ChatGPT, Midjourney - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/features/2023-07-13/ex-google-scientists-kickstarted-the-generative-ai-era-of-chatgpt-midjourney

In 2017, eight Google researchers developed and investigated Transformer, a new system that allows machines to more efficiently generate human-like text and images, DNA sequences, and many other kinds of data than ever before. I published the results in a paper called '

Attention Is All You Need '. Later, this paper became a famous paper that was cited more than 80,000 times by various AI researchers, and Transformer became the architecture supporting chat AI ChatGPT and image generation AI Midjourney.

What is the mechanism by which the machine learning model 'Transformer', which is also used for ChatGPT, generates natural sentences? -GIGAZINE

In general, it is not uncommon for technology companies to open source in order to get feedback on new technologies, gather human resources, and form a community of supporters. However, Google did not open source Transformer immediately and continued research to grow it into a service that would benefit the company. On the other hand, AI development company OpenAI used Transformer to develop ChatGPT, which can be a serious threat to search giant Google.

Eight researchers involved in the development of Transformer retired from Google one after another after the announcement. Some of the retired researchers are reportedly launching AI startups. Below is a list of eight people involved in the development of Transformer and a list of places to work after leaving Google.

Researcher name	enterprise	post	Funding amount	Company valuation
Ashish Vaswani	Essential.ai	co-founder	About 1.1 billion yen	not clear
Niki Palmar	Essential.ai	co-founder	About 1.1 billion yen	not clear
Nome Chazelle	Character.ai	co-founder	About 28 billion yen	About 120 billion yen
Jacob Uskorite	Inceptive Nucleics	co-founder	About 2.9 billion yen	About 13 billion yen
Lyon Jones	stealth startup	co-founder	private	private
Aidan N. Gomez	Cohere	co-founder and CEO	About 64 billion yen	About 290 billion yen
Luke Kaiser	Open AI	researcher	private	private
Ilya Poroschkin	NEAR Protocol	co-founder	About 116 billion yen	About 170 billion yen

Competitor OpenAI had about 150 AI researchers out of about 375 employees as of 2023, while Google had about 140,000 employees who were AI researchers. It was reported that 7133 people, about 20%, were working on. Anonymous researchers and engineers also reported that ``During the development of Transformer, we had to undergo multiple checks to get the idea approved.'' Furthermore, ``Researchers at Google Brain , one of Google's main AI divisions, were also obsessed with their career advancement and visibility in research papers, and lacked a clear strategic direction.'' It is pointed out.

The hurdles for turning ideas into new products are also very high within Google, and Vaswani et al. I'm here.

A Google spokesperson said, 'We are proud of the AI industry's leading groundbreaking research on Transformer, and regret that Google researchers are doing research outside of Google. However, we feel the vitality of research in the new AI ecosystem that this research has created.'