Google, the search engine giant, has recently made a shocking counteroffer to one of its employees, who was planning to join a rival AI company. The employee, who was part of the search team, was offered a 300% salary hike by Google, to dissuade him from leaving the company. The incident was revealed by Arvind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity AI, a US-based AI startup, in the Big Technology Podcast.
Srinivas, who is an IIT-Madras alumnus, said that he had tried to hire the employee for his startup, which works on natural language processing and conversational AI. He said that the employee had informed Google about the offer from Perplexity AI, and that Google had responded with a fourfold increase in salary, which was unheard of in the industry. He said that the employee had accepted the counteroffer from Google, and that he was still working there.
The counteroffer from Google comes at a time when the company is facing a wave of layoffs, affecting thousands of employees worldwide. Google CEO Sundar Pichai had warned the employees last month, that the company had to make “tough choices” and “create capacity” for its big priorities this year.
A Competitive Market for AI Talent
The counteroffer from Google also reflects the competitive and lucrative market for AI talent, especially in the fields of natural language processing and conversational AI. These fields are considered to be the next frontier of AI, as they enable machines to understand and communicate with humans, using natural language. These fields have many applications and use cases, such as voice assistants, chatbots, search engines, and content generation.
Google, which is one of the leaders and pioneers in AI, has been investing heavily in these fields, and has developed many products and services, such as Google Assistant, Google Translate, Google Duplex, and Google Meena. Google has also been acquiring and collaborating with other AI companies, such as DeepMind, Kaggle, and Dialogflow, to enhance its AI capabilities and offerings.
However, Google is not the only player in the AI market, and it faces stiff competition from other tech giants, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple, as well as from emerging startups, such as Perplexity AI, Hugging Face, and Rasa. These companies are also developing and deploying their own AI products and services, and are vying for the best and brightest AI talent, to gain an edge in the AI race.
A Challenge and Opportunity for AI Professionals
The counteroffer from Google also highlights the challenge and opportunity for AI professionals, who have to choose between working for established and stable companies, or joining new and innovative startups. AI professionals, who have high demand and low supply in the market, have the advantage of negotiating better salaries and benefits, and exploring different career paths and options.
AI professionals, who work for big and established companies, such as Google, can enjoy the perks and privileges of working for a global and reputable brand, and have access to the best resources and infrastructure, and work on large-scale and impactful projects. However, they might also face some drawbacks, such as bureaucracy, politics, and competition, and have less autonomy and creativity, and more pressure and expectations.
AI professionals, who work for new and innovative startups, such as Perplexity AI, can enjoy the excitement and challenges of working for a fast-growing and dynamic company, and have more autonomy and creativity, and work on cutting-edge and novel projects. However, they might also face some risks, such as uncertainty, instability, and failure, and have less resources and infrastructure, and work on smaller-scale and niche projects.
