Microsoft and Google are Currently Experiencing an AI Talent War

Microsoft has announced they are opening a new AI division in London. The new hub looks to have set the stage as Microsoft and Google battle it out in an AI talent war. The announcement comes just a matter of weeks after Microsoft hired Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of DeepMind, who is set to run their new AI division. Suleyman released a statement that the new unit is going to be run by the researcher at DeepMind, Jordan Huffman. Microsoft plans to invest over £2.5 billion in data centres across the UK. But the fact that their new hub is entirely AI-focused and run by former DeepMinders might give something for Google to worry about.
An Enormous Pool of AI Talent

There’s a huge pool of talent in the UK, with Microsoft planning to make long-term investments. A lot of demand for AI talent experts comes down to the online gambling market. It’s set to grow by 3.91% by 2028, with the majority of online games having core AI-based features. Whether this is through random number generators (RNGs) to make spin till you win roulette bets fair, or AI-generated recommendations based on previous playing habits, it’s essential to the sector. Another area of growth for AI in the UK is the generation of data and software code. AI can significantly shorten the time needed to create code, allowing developers to create programs faster and with less room for error. As a result of the AI movement, AI-experienced game developers are in high demand, so it’s no surprise to see that there’s a lot of competition in the job market.

OpenAI and DeepMind

Last year, Google merged DeepMind with Brain, forming the new and improved Google DeepMind. With over 2,000 employees they are currently working on Gemini. This is the company’s answer to the ChatGPT language learning model. As rivals Microsoft and Meta battle it out to increase their AI resources and talent, it looks like they are attempting to poach some of the most prized researchers from Google. There are reports that there are over $10 million in pay packets and Meta has recently lost three of their top employees. Google has also lost employees to OpenAI over the years. The co-founder of Einstellen Talent, Alex Libre, has released a statement saying that companies are now paying more for new hires in an attempt to compete with other big tech companies. DeepMind has been trying to retain talent for some time, offering larger compensation to employees. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, once called a researcher at DeepMind to convince them to stay when they were about to leave for OpenAI.

As the tech talent pool becomes more in-demand, wages for the sector are going up, as big tech companies fight it out for access to crucial skills and talent. With AI developing at such a huge rate, it’s a race to see who can claim the top spot.

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