Microsoft announced on Tuesday the significant appointment of Mustafa Suleyman, one of the minds behind the influential AI startup DeepMind, now a part of Google, to head its Copilot AI projects. In his new role at Microsoft, Suleyman will serve as the executive vice president and CEO of Microsoft AI, directly reporting to Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO.

DeepMind, under Google’s umbrella, emerged as a pivotal force in AI research, achieving recognition in the prestigious journal Nature and drawing wide media coverage. The achievements of DeepMind did not go unnoticed by industry leaders like Tesla’s Elon Musk, who responded by establishing OpenAI, a nonprofit AI research lab.

After departing from Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in 2022, Suleyman moved on to co-found and lead Inflection AI. In a significant move, Karén Simonyan, another key figure from Inflection AI as co-founder and chief scientist, will also join Microsoft as the chief scientist for Microsoft AI. This transition includes the transfer of several team members from Inflection AI to Microsoft, as mentioned in a memo by Nadella.

The formation of the new Microsoft AI division marks a strategic push to advance Copilot, integrated within Bing, Windows, and other Microsoft offerings, signaling a broader commitment to consumer AI products and research initiatives.

In his statement, Nadella expressed deep admiration for Suleyman’s visionary leadership and foundational work at DeepMind and Inflection AI, highlighting his ability to lead teams towards ambitious goals.

Meanwhile, DeepMind’s other co-founder, Demis Hassabis, continues his tenure at Google DeepMind, amidst competitive tensions with Microsoft in the AI landscape. Google recently faced challenges with its Gemini chatbot and AI-generated imagery, leading to the temporary withdrawal of its image generation feature amid controversies. Hassabis indicated a commitment to resolving these issues and reintroducing the feature soon.

This strategic hiring underscores Microsoft’s ambition to lead in the AI domain, leveraging Suleyman’s expertise and vision to drive innovation and product development within its AI portfolio.