Google: The AI Company

In this episode of Acquired, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal delve into the strategic challenges and historical context of Google's foray into artificial intelligence, framing Google as an AI company from its inception. They explore Google's early AI innovations, key acquisitions like DeepMind, and the rise of the Transformer model, while also discussing the rise of competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic. They analyze Google's unique position with its vast resources, infrastructure, and talent, and discuss the strategic decisions facing Google as it navigates the AI revolution, balancing innovation with protecting its existing search business. The hosts also touch on Waymo's progress in autonomous driving and the potential business opportunities it presents, and they conclude with a bull and bear case for Google's future in the AI landscape.

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Acquired

00:00Introduction to Google's AI Dilemma and Historical AI Talent

Introduction to Google's AI Dilemma and Historical AI Talent

04:41Google's Early AI Initiatives: PageRank and the Vision of AI-Powered Search

Google's Early AI Initiatives: PageRank and the Vision of AI-Powered Search

09:46The Genesis of Language Models at Google: From "Did You Mean" to AdSense

The Genesis of Language Models at Google: From "Did You Mean" to AdSense

17:30Google Translate and the Power of Parallelization: Geoff Dean's Impact

Google Translate and the Power of Parallelization: Geoff Dean's Impact

23:57The Arrival of AI Pioneers: Sebastian Thrun and Geoff Hinton at Google

The Arrival of AI Pioneers: Sebastian Thrun and Geoff Hinton at Google

30:24The Birth of Google Brain: Deep Learning and the Quest for Machine Understanding

The Birth of Google Brain: Deep Learning and the Quest for Machine Understanding

35:05The Cat Paper and AlexNet: Seminal Moments in AI History

The Cat Paper and AlexNet: Seminal Moments in AI History

42:09The Impact of AI on YouTube and the Rise of Recommender Systems

The Impact of AI on YouTube and the Rise of Recommender Systems

47:51The Acquisition of DNN Research and the Auction for AI Talent

The Acquisition of DNN Research and the Auction for AI Talent

55:59The Acquisition of DeepMind: Google's YouTube of AI

The Acquisition of DeepMind: Google's YouTube of AI

1:02:02DeepMind's Early Funding and the Pursuit of AGI

DeepMind's Early Funding and the Pursuit of AGI

1:08:31Securing Funding from Thiel and Musk: DeepMind's Early Investors

Securing Funding from Thiel and Musk: DeepMind's Early Investors

1:15:23The Bidding War for DeepMind: Facebook, Tesla, and Google

The Bidding War for DeepMind: Facebook, Tesla, and Google

1:24:28DeepMind's Integration into Google: Data Center Cooling and AlphaGo

DeepMind's Integration into Google: Data Center Cooling and AlphaGo

1:28:03The Founding of OpenAI: A Response to Google's AI Dominance

The Founding of OpenAI: A Response to Google's AI Dominance

1:35:23OpenAI's Early Days and the Emergence of AlexNet

OpenAI's Early Days and the Emergence of AlexNet

1:42:23Google's Response: The TPU and the Pursuit of Efficiency

Google's Response: The TPU and the Pursuit of Efficiency

1:47:50The Transformer Paper: A Breakthrough Ignored by Google

The Transformer Paper: A Breakthrough Ignored by Google

1:52:16The Origins of the Transformer: From Language Models to Attention Mechanisms

The Origins of the Transformer: From Language Models to Attention Mechanisms

1:57:30The Transformer's Impact and the Bitter Lesson

The Transformer's Impact and the Bitter Lesson

2:03:07The Founding of OpenAI and the Shift to a For-Profit Model

The Founding of OpenAI and the Shift to a For-Profit Model

2:07:32OpenAI's Partnership with Microsoft: A New Era for AI

OpenAI's Partnership with Microsoft: A New Era for AI

2:11:33The Strategic Importance of Google Cloud and the Rise of TPUs

The Strategic Importance of Google Cloud and the Rise of TPUs

2:17:30The Internal Chatbot and the Reluctance to Disrupt Search

The Internal Chatbot and the Reluctance to Disrupt Search

2:23:35The Launch of ChatGPT: A Moment of Disruption

The Launch of ChatGPT: A Moment of Disruption

2:29:27Google's Code Red and the Response to ChatGPT

Google's Code Red and the Response to ChatGPT

2:34:01The Launch of Bard and the Unification of Google's AI Efforts

The Launch of Bard and the Unification of Google's AI Efforts

2:40:01The Gemini Model and the Shift in Google's AI Strategy

The Gemini Model and the Shift in Google's AI Strategy

2:46:44Waymo's Journey to Autonomy: From DARPA to Commercialization

Waymo's Journey to Autonomy: From DARPA to Commercialization

2:53:01Waymo's Business Model and the Potential for a Google-Sized Opportunity

Waymo's Business Model and the Potential for a Google-Sized Opportunity

3:00:02Waymo's Current Operations and the Future of Autonomous Driving

Waymo's Current Operations and the Future of Autonomous Driving

3:07:30Google's Financial Strength and the TPU Advantage

Google's Financial Strength and the TPU Advantage

3:14:11The Power of Personalized Data and the Future of AI

The Power of Personalized Data and the Future of AI

3:20:23The Antitrust Case and the Race in AI

The Antitrust Case and the Race in AI

3:24:25The Business Model Challenges of AI and the Potential for New Revenue Streams

The Business Model Challenges of AI and the Potential for New Revenue Streams

3:32:31The Strengths and Weaknesses of Google's AI Strategy

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Google's AI Strategy

3:40:07The Importance of Low-Cost Production and the Future of AI

The Importance of Low-Cost Production and the Future of AI

3:47:50Power Analysis and the Innovator's Dilemma

Power Analysis and the Innovator's Dilemma

3:54:25Carve Outs and Episode Conclusion

Carve Outs and Episode Conclusion