Google Appoints Koray Kavukcuoglu as Chief AI Architect to Accelerate AI-Powered Product Development

Google names insider Kavukcuoglu to lead AI-powered product development

June 11 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google on Wednesday appointed an insider to lead its future AI-powered product development, as AI enters a new phase of mainstream adoption, according to a memo from CEO Sundar Pichai to company leaders seen by Reuters. Koray Kavukcuoglu, chief technology officer of Google's DeepMind AI lab, is taking on the newly created title of chief AI architect. He will also become a new senior vice president, reporting directly to Pichai. Kavukcuoglu, who will move to California from London, will also continue serving as Google DeepMind's CTO, reporting to its CEO Demis Hassabis, Pichai said in the memo. "In this expanded role, Koray will accelerate how we bring our world-leading models into our products, with the goal of more seamless integration, faster iteration, and greater efficiency," Pichai said. Alphabet faces market pressure to demonstrate financial returns on its AI-related capital expenditures, which are expected to hit $75 billion this year, while maintaining its bottom line against the threat of competing AI offerings, as well as antitrust enforcement. Google said it would put artificial intelligence into the hands of more web surfers and teased a $249.99-a-month subscription for its AI power users at its annual I/O conference in May, along with a flurry of demos that included new smart glasses. Pichai said in Wednesday's memo that Alphabet was "entering a new phase of the AI platform shift." He told reporters last month that the rise of generative AI was not at the full expense of online search. Google has since signed, opens new tab a deal to supply computing capacity to its biggest AI rival OpenAI via its cloud service, Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday, marking a surprising collaboration between two prominent competitors in the AI sector. Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City and Kenrick Cai in San Francisco; Editing by Alan Barona Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Google adds Chief AI Architect to accelerate development of AI products

Google on Wednesday added a Chief AI Architect to its leadership ranks as the company continues to prioritize artificial intelligence and add the technology to more of its products. The company tapped Koray Kavukcuoglu, Google DeepMind's chief technology officer, for the new senior vice president position, the company confirmed Wednesday. Kavukcuoglu will report directly to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Semafor first reported the executive change. Kavukcuoglu will help with product strategy and "accelerate how we bring our world-leading models into our products, with the goal of more seamless integration, faster iteration, and greater efficiency," Sundar Pichai wrote in a memo to employees, the company confirmed. Kavukcuoglu will move from London to Mountain View, California. The executive appointment comes as Google faces pressure to create money-making products from its flagship AI technology, much of which is housed in Google's DeepMind unit. The company has been integrating its DeepMind unit within the broader Google organization since 2023. Since then, AI competition has moved quickly, and though advancements have been made in AI, tech companies haven't been able to show significant returns. Capital expenditures, however, have continued growing. Google is investing $75 billion into AI infrastructure this year, the company said in February, and has ongoing efforts to cut costs as it prioritizes its AI investments -- the company on Tuesday offered buyouts to employees across several teams, including those working on Search and ads, CNBC reported. The search giant isn't the only one investing in AI. Others in tech, including Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and startups like OpenAI, which ushers in the era of generativeAI with its late 2022 launch of ChatGPT, are heavily investing in the technology. Google last month announced its latest slew of AI products at its annual I/O conference. There, the company announced a new $249.99 per month subscription plan that includes early access to AI tools and experimental products. It also announced partnerships with Warby Parker and others for its Google's Android XR, an operating system for headset computers that will include Google's Gemini AI assistant that users can speak with to control the wearable devices.

Google names insider Kavukcuoglu to lead AI-powered product development

Koray Kavukcuoglu, chief technology officer of Google's DeepMind AI lab, is taking on the newly created title of chief AI architect. He will also become a new senior vice president, reporting directly to Pichai.Alphabet's Google on Wednesday appointed an insider to lead its future AI-powered product development, as AI enters a new phase of mainstream adoption, according to a memo from CEO Sundar Pichai to company leaders seen by Reuters. Koray Kavukcuoglu, chief technology officer of Google's DeepMind AI lab, is taking on the newly created title of chief AI architect. He will also become a new senior vice president, reporting directly to Pichai. Kavukcuoglu, who will move to California from London, will also continue serving as Google DeepMind's CTO, reporting to its CEO Demis Hassabis, Pichai said in the memo. "In this expanded role, Koray will accelerate how we bring our world-leading models into our products, with the goal of more seamless integration, faster iteration, and greater efficiency," Pichai said. Alphabet faces market pressure to demonstrate financial returns on its AI-related capital expenditures, which are expected to hit $75 billion this year, while maintaining its bottom line against the threat of competing AI offerings, as well as antitrust enforcement. Google said it would put artificial intelligence into the hands of more web surfers and teased a $249.99-a-month subscription for its AI power users at its annual I/O conference in May, along with a flurry of demos that included new smart glasses. Pichai said in Wednesday's memo that Alphabet was "entering a new phase of the AI platform shift." He told reporters last month that the rise of generative AI was not at the full expense of online search. Google has since signed a deal to supply computing capacity to its biggest AI rival OpenAI via its cloud service, Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday, marking a surprising collaboration between two prominent competitors in the AI sector.

Google names new chief AI architect to advance developments - Semafor By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has appointed a new executive to lead its artificial intelligence product development efforts, according to Semafor, citing a company memo from CEO Sundar Pichai. Koray Kavukcuoglu, who currently serves as Google DeepMind's chief technology officer, will take on the newly created role of chief AI architect, reporting directly to Pichai. The appointment was announced in a memo distributed on Wednesday and seen by Semafor. According to the document, Kavukcuoglu will maintain his existing position at DeepMind while taking on these new responsibilities. Kavukcuoglu brings significant technical expertise to the role. The former aerospace engineer holds a PhD in computer science and previously worked under renowned AI pioneer Yann LeCun at NYU. LeCun later went on to lead Facebook (NASDAQ:META)'s AI initiatives. Joining DeepMind in 2012 as a researcher, Kavukcuoglu gradually rose through the ranks into leadership, where he has overseen major advances in the company's artificial intelligence technologies. The creation of this new position signals Google's continued focus on coordinating and advancing its AI-powered product development across the organization.