DeepMind, the team behind the advanced AlphaGO AI, is currently headquartered in London. Scooped up by Google back in 2014, DeepMind currently calls a two-floor share of Google’s building in King’s Cross, home. From there, they develop their products and experiments, while helping Google to enhance their own products with their AI chops. It would seem that they will be getting a second home in the very near future though, as reports are surfacing that indicate that a DeepMind sub-team, called DeepMind Applied, will be forming in Mountain View. This team will be a bit more closely involved with Google, working hand-in-hand with the various product teams to help implement their AI-based solutions throughout Google’s portfolio.
Right now, Google is harnessing DeepMind’s know-how in the AI field mostly to help out with Google Play and their various ad platforms. They will be gaining a new focus, however, once the Applied team is formed; according to the first job posting for the new team in California, they will be solving the sorts of problems that Googlers face every day, “at Google scale”. The initial position is called “applied research scientist”, and the job description is a bit on the vague side. According to DeepMind spokespeople, the number of new hires for this team will number in the dozens, and they will be working much more closely with Google’s home office than the main DeepMind team in London.
The new DeepMind Applied team, rather than being hosted alongside the Googlers that they’ll be collaborating with, will be receiving their own digs in Mountain View, presumably on Googleplex grounds or at least close enough to enable people from Google and DeepMind to quickly and easily shoot back and forth to collaborate in person. The current applied arm of the main DeepMind team is responsible for finding and implementing real-world uses for DeepMind’s AI knowledge and talent, such as helping to predict and balance energy needs for Google. Details are sparse for the time being, but all signs point to the new DeepMind Applied team that will be settling down in Mountain View doing much the same thing.