04:57 PM EDT, 08/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Character.AI Chief Executive and Co-founder Noam Shazeer is joining the Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Deepmind division, a Google ( GOOG ) spokesperson said in an email to MT Newswires.

Character.AI Co-founder Daniel De Freitas will also join the Deepmind team, along with other employees from the startup, according to multiple media reports.

"We're particularly thrilled to welcome back Noam, a preeminent researcher in machine learning, who is joining Google DeepMind's research team, along with a small number of his colleagues," a Google ( GOOG ) spokesperson told MT Newswires.

Google ( GOOG ) has also signed a non-exclusive agreement with Character.AI to use its technology, providing additional funding for the startup, according to media reports.

"I am super excited to return to Google ( GOOG ) and work as part of the Google DeepMind team," Shazeer said in an emailed response from Google ( GOOG ) to MT Newswires. "I am confident that the funds from the non-exclusive Google ( GOOG ) licensing agreement together with the incredible Character.AI team positions Character.AI for continued success in the future."

Shazeer left Google ( GOOG ) in October 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Character.AI General Counsel Dominic Perella will serve as interim CEO of Character.AI while most of the staff will remain at Character.AI, according to media reports.

Character.AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

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