Microsoft has disclosed that Mustafa Suleyman, a pioneering figure in British Artificial Intelligence, will head its newly established division, Microsoft AI.
Currently, Mr. Suleyman leads the startup Inflection AI, although he is most recognized for his co-founding role in the AI company DeepMind. DeepMind was widely acknowledged as one of the leading AI firms in the UK and was acquired by Google in 2014.
Mr. Suleyman’s decision to join Microsoft solidifies the company’s standing as a frontrunner in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly at a time when Google appears to be encountering challenges in the field.
In a post on X, previously known as Twitter, Mr. Suleyman expressed his enthusiasm about assuming his new role. He mentioned that he would be bringing along several colleagues to Microsoft, including his “friend and long-time collaborator” Karén Simonyan, who will serve as the chief scientist.
He said he would be “leading all consumer AI products and research”, including the Copilot chatbot, Bing and Edge.
Microsoft boss Satya Nadella described Mr Suleyman as a “visionary, product maker, and builder of pioneering teams that go after bold missions”.
“I am excited for them to contribute their knowledge, talent, and expertise to our consumer AI research and product making,” he added.
Following his departure from Google in 2022, Mr. Suleyman co-founded Inflection AI, which has rapidly gained prominence in the generative AI domain. Last June, the company secured a substantial $1.3 billion investment from Microsoft and Nvidia.
Assuming his latest role at Microsoft further solidifies his standing in the industry. Microsoft has committed significant resources to its collaboration with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and has recently invested in the French tech startup Mistral AI. The company stated its intention to continue developing AI infrastructure and supporting OpenAI’s “foundation model roadmap.”
However, Google’s current situation presents a contrast. The tech giant has encountered challenges with its new AI-powered tool, Gemini, which has faced issues such as inaccurately depicting white people and altering the race of certain white historical figures.
Google has issued apologies for these shortcomings, acknowledging that its attempts to generate a “wide range” of results fell short of accuracy.
I’m excited to announce that today I’m joining @Microsoft as CEO of Microsoft AI. I’ll be leading all consumer AI products and research, including Copilot, Bing and Edge. My friend and longtime collaborator Karén Simonyan will be Chief Scientist, and several of our amazing…
— Mustafa Suleyman (@mustafasuleyman) March 19, 2024