Who is Mustafa Suleyman, new head of Microsoft's AI business
Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of Inflection AI, has been named as the new CEO of Microsoft's consumer artificial intelligence division. The move follows a brief stint by OpenAI's Sam Altman in a similar role after his tumultuous exit from ChatGPT's parent. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's decision to recruit Suleyman, a prominent figure in the AI industry, is viewed as a tactical maneuver to rival Google. The tech giant has also hired a significant portion of Suleyman's start-up team.
Suleyman's childhood and journey to founding DeepMind
Suleyman was born in 1984 to a Syrian father who worked as a taxi driver and English mother who was a nurse. He dropped out of Oxford University. In 2010, he launched his first start-up called DeepMind, which was acquired by Google in 2014. After the acquisition, Suleyman worked as VP of AI Products and AI Policy at Google. DeepMind's algorithms have helped Google reduce 40% energy consumption at its data centers. DeepMind has also built Google's Gemini AI model.
Suleyman's Inflection AI is another billion dollar venture
In 2022, Suleyman started Inflection AI in partnership with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Backed by Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Bill Gates, Inflection AI has raised over $1.5 billion and is valued north of $4 billion. Suleyman, named as one of the 100 most influential people in AI by Time Magazine in 2023, is also the author of best-selling book The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma. He is also a noted social worker.
Suleyman's role and future plans at Microsoft AI
Suleyman will be responsible for overseeing various projects at Microsoft, including integrating AI Copilot into Windows and enhancing the Bing search engine with conversational features. His appointment unifies all consumer-focused AI initiatives under one leadership for the first time in Microsoft's history. The newly appointed CEO is also slated to spearhead AI products and research for Copilot, Bing, and Edge. Suleyman's official designation at Microsoft is EVP and CEO of Microsoft AI, reporting directly to Nadella.
Microsoft has also hired Karen Simonyan from Inflection AI
Microsoft has not only secured Suleyman but also Karen Simonyan, the other co-founder of Inflection AI, along with several team members. In this new arrangement, Simonyan will take on the role of chief scientist within the same group. This recruitment drive forms part of Microsoft's ambitious strategy to attract leading talent in artificial intelligence. In light of its co-founders' departure, Inflection AI will focus on its AI studio business, which involves building and testing customer-centric AI models.
