LONDON – Microsoft has hired Mustafa Suleyman to lead its consumer artificial intelligence business, adding an AI influencer to its ranks to cement its leadership position in the booming industry.
Suleyman said Monday in a LinkedIn post that he will become general manager of Microsoft AI, at the helm of all of the company’s consumer AI products and research, including its Copilot generative AI, as well as its Bing search engine and Edge browser.
The hire is likely to reaffirm Microsoft’s position in the sector as tech companies scramble to position themselves to take advantage of the demand for AI services. Microsoft has teamed up with ChatGPT maker OpenAI and invested billions of dollars in the San Francisco company, and recently closed another deal with French firm Mistral, a popular young AI startup.
Suleyman mistook DeepMind, which Google bought in 2014, and continued working there until 2022, when he left to form Inflection.ai with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in an effort to create AI that would not drift into racist, sexist or violent behavior.
He also co-authored a book, “The Coming Wave,” which discusses the promise of AI and the need to limit its potential risks.