Two Google DeepMind Scientists Set to Leave to Start New AI Startup

Two key scientists at Google DeepMind, the artificial intelligence division of Google, are reportedly planning to exit the company to start an AI startup. 

Google DeepMind Scientists In Talks to Leave

Bloomberg reported that the duo, Laurent Sifre and Karl Tuyls, have already submitted their notice to leave Deepmind and have started engaging potential investors to raise funds for their startup which will be based in Paris, France. 

Google acquired DeepMind in 2014. The planned departure of the Sifre and Tuyls comes nearly two months after DeepMind launched “Gemini AI” models, which were considered the “largest and most capable” AI models. 

Sifre is said to have co-authored the 2016 DeepMind research on Go, a novel AI system that mastered and defeated a world champion in the ancient game of Go. On the other hand, Tuyls has worked on research into game theory and multi-agent reinforcement learning, all attesting to their expertise in the AI field. 

The Spotlight on AI

Sifre and Tuyls could raise over €200 million ($220 million) for their new France startup, which will be focused on building a new AI model, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 

It’s worth noting that the duo isn’t the first to leave DeepMind in pursuit of a new startup. In 2023, another researcher, Arthur Mensch, left Google’s DeepMind to co-found Mistral AI in France. The company is reportedly now valued at $2 billion, all of which depicts a growing appetite among investors to get in on the ground floor of the AI trend. 

Data by Crunchbase notes that Generative AI and AI-related startups raised nearly $50 billion in 2023 alone. Billions of those funds went to leading companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection AI. By 2025, investments in the sector are expected to surge to $200 billion globally, according to a Goldman Sachs Economics Research report.