- Mindstream
- Posts
- The man who cost $2.7B
PRESENTED BY |  |
F1 cars can hit 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds. That's faster than your Wi-Fi buffering a YouTube video. Still, my old Volvo is far more practical.
Love or hate this intro? Hit reply and tell us why!
What’s in store:
Google spends $2.7 Billion on one hire.
Meta AI’s pulling numbers bigger than a viral TikTok trend.
Around the web: Brazil’s Supreme Court says X must pay over $5 million in fines before resuming service in the country.
Osum can superpower your market research with AI!
Read Time: 6 minutes
Google has made waves by spending a staggering $2.7 billion to bring back a single employee… AI expert Noam Shazeer.
Shazeer, who left Google in 2021 after 21 years, started his own company, Character.AI, where users can chat with bots that act like well-known or made-up characters.
Now, through a deal with Character.AI, Shazeer is back at Google.
While Google said the money was for using Character.AI’s technology, many believe the real reason was to get Shazeer back. It must feel pretty good to know your workplace thinks you’re worth $2.7B.
This shows how tech companies are battling to hire top AI talent as they race to stay ahead.
Here’s what’s happening:
Google spent $2.7 billion to get Shazeer back and to use Character.AI’s tech.
Shazeer was key in creating AI language models and helped Google develop early AI projects.
The deal shows how tech companies are willing to spend huge amounts to hire AI experts.
Big money for big brains
Shazeer was a big part of Google’s early work on AI.
A paper he co-authored in 2017 helped shape modern AI language models.
He also worked on Google’s chatbot, Meena, though it was never released due to safety concerns.
Interestingly, OpenAI launched ChatGPT a year later, showing what Google missed out on.
Although Shazeer didn’t get the full $2.7 billion, he made hundreds of millions from his stake in Character.AI.
His work in AI is widely respected, and his return to Google shows just how far companies will go to hire AI pioneers.
As companies like Google continue to invest billions in AI, there are growing concerns that a bubble might be forming.
Investors are closely watching to see what happens next.
If anyone wants to buy me for $2.7B, I’m open to all offers.
Shazeer's $2.7B move - smart or not? |
Vote for live results and see results + opinions from yesterday at the bottom of the email.
MARKET RESEARCH
Using up-to-date customer insights can result in higher quality leads and contribute to 175% growth in sales with 72% faster lead conversion…
However, market research projects can easily cost thousands of dollars and take weeks to complete…
Osum helps you perform deep market research in seconds to identify untapped growth potential...
Simply copy-paste any URL to instantly get detailed industry insights, competitive analysis, targeted customer personas, sales prospect insights, actionable growth opportunities and more for any product or business...
Stay ahead of your competition and discover new ways to unlock 10X growth.
P.S. Mindstream readers get 25% off on any plan for life. Use the code MINDSTREAM at checkout.
On This Day
September 30th 1882 - Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation.
Trending Tools
Answer Socrates: A tool that uses Google data to generate questions people are asking online. It's great for copywriters and content creators to discover the most relevant and trending topics, helping them tailor their content to audience needs.
Flippa: Think of this as eBay for online businesses. It’s a great niche tool for digital entrepreneurs, helping them find and buy websites, apps, and online stores while exploring new industries.
Subreddit Stats: For the nerds among us, this tool helps you track trending communities and topics on Reddit. It's ideal for those researching niche interests or looking to understand what’s hot within specific Reddit communities.
Glimpse: A tool similar to Exploding Topics, Glimpse helps users discover upcoming trends across various industries. It offers both free and paid versions and is invaluable for businesses wanting to stay ahead of the curve in their respective niches.
AI TECH
Meta is making big moves in AI, as revealed at its recent Connect conference.
They announced that celebrities like Judi Dench, John Cena, and Awkwafina will be the voices behind Meta’s AI chatbot.
Yes, you can now chat with Dame Judi.
Like one big group chat
This AI, similar to ChatGPT, lets users talk and get replies from these famous personalities.
At the event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg also introduced Orion, new smart glasses he called "the most advanced" in the world.
Additionally, Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses now offer live translation.
Zuckerberg showed how they can instantly translate conversations, with a tool that also matches lip movements to the translation.
Zuckerberg highlighted Meta's goal to make technology more accessible and focused on human connection, building on its values over the past 20 years.
Meta is also adding AI tools for influencers, letting them create AI versions of themselves to interact with their fans.
Meta AI now has 500 million users, positioning the company as a major player in AI.
Experts see this as a move to compete with OpenAI and Apple, as Meta pushes further into the AR/VR market.
Here’s what you should know in brief:
Celebrities like Judi Dench and John Cena will voice Meta AI for better user engagement.
Meta’s smart glasses now offer live translation and video dubbing features.
Meta AI has reached 500 million users, with new AI tools for influencers.
Meta’s shift from social media to AI leader shows its aim to challenge OpenAI and Apple, particularly in the growing VR market.
The movie “her” is really about to come true.
Mindstream Picks
Space: SpaceX paused Falcon 9 launches after an anomaly in the second stage of the rocket used for Crew-9, which missed its target during deorbit and landed in the ocean.
Crypto: Evernode's co-founder proposed using Hooks and a new token, Codii, to improve smart contract functionality on the XRP Ledger while keeping costs low.
Games: China's hit game Black Myth: Wukong, hailed as "game of the year," has sparked a global Chinese gaming craze.
Music: While performing in Haikou, China, on Sept. 28, the 47-year-old “Runaway” rapper announced his upcoming album Bully and debuted its first song.
Don’t Miss - Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that social platform X must pay over $5 million in outstanding fines, including a new penalty, before it can resume operations in the country. Despite the platform's claims of complying with misinformation controls, the court has maintained the ban until the fines are settled.
AI Art
Our Image of the Day
Artwork submitted by Mindstream reader James A.: “Grandmas in a car race”
Daily Image Prompt
Floating cubes with glowing edges
Yesterday’s Poll
“Would you use Recall?”
No, not comfortable with it. - 74% ✅
Definitely, sounds like a productivity booster. - 26%
Your Views:
“Using the internet is beginning to feel like diving into a pool filled with ravenous sharks in a feeding frenzy of pure greed.” - justjay
“People complain because they love the sound of their own voice and it’s «cool» to hate Microsoft, yet Google monitors everything you do and sells it and people don’t care!” - paul
Submit your opinions in our daily poll to be featured!
 | Happy Monday! Have a great day, friends. Be sure to give us some feedback. ❤️ We need your feedback to make our newsletter better. 📣 Refer our newsletter to your friends and make us feel all warm and fuzzy. 🚀 Advertise in our newsletter to reach 150,000+ founders, engineers, and content creators. |
You There! What Did You Think? |