Microsoft is opening an artificial intelligence (AI) research and development hub in London.
In charge of the tech giant’s AI ventures is Mustafa Suleyman, who has said they are seeking the “best AI scientists and engineers” to work for them.
In a new blog post, he said: “There is an enormous pool of AI talent and expertise in the UK.
“Microsoft AI plans to make a significant, long-term investment in the region as we begin hiring the best AI scientists and engineers into this new AI hub,” Suleyman said.
ChatGPT-creator OpenAI – which Microsoft has invested in – already has a London base.
The co-founder of the Google-owned AI research lab DeepMind only joined Microsoft last month.
He also founded the AI startup, Inflection AI, and some of his employees there also moved to Microsoft AI, including AI engineer Jordan Hoffmann, who comes from DeepMind and Inflection, and will head up the UK base.
Upon joining Microsoft, Suleyman was hailed a “visionary, product maker, and builder of pioneering teams”.
Satya Nadella, the CEO at Microsoft, told employees: “I’ve known Mustafa for several years and have greatly admired him as a founder of both DeepMind and Inflection, and as a visionary, product maker, and builder of pioneering teams that go after bold missions.”
Microsoft believes that with Suleyman on board they have “a real shot” at leading AI innovation.
Nadella added: “We have a real shot to build technology that was once thought impossible and that lives up to our mission to ensure the benefits of AI reach every person and organisation on the planet, safely and responsibly. I’m looking forward to doing so with you.”
Suleyman said in a post on X: “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 long-time collaborator Karén Simonyan will be chief scientist, and several of our amazing teammates have chosen to join us.
“@InflectionAI will continue on its mission under a new CEO, and look to reach more people than ever by making its API widely available to developers and businesses the world over.
“It’s been an amazing journey, with so much more to come. Thank you to everyone for your support. Things really are just getting started.”
Suleyman quit Google in 2022 and went on to co-found Inflection AI, which secured $1.3 billion (R24bn) in funding from Microsoft and Nvidia last year.
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