4 ms·

I think it is an interesting point of comparison that DeepMind was acquired for $400M in 2014 https://www.reuters.com/article/google-deepmind-idUSL2N0L102A2014

I think it is an interesting point of comparison that DeepMind was acquired for $400M in 2014 https://www.reuters.com/article/google-deepmind-idUSL2N0L102A20140127 https://www.reuters.com/article/google-deepmind-idUSL2N0L102...

aliqot 4y ago
2014 was before things got all willynilly to the degree they are now.
version_five 4y ago
Is there any evidence it was a good investment at that price? As I understand they are a big money sink and haven't done anything commercially valuable
- JacobThreeThree 4y ago
  It was a good investment because Google doesn't want to see a switch away from their cash-cow search ads business model, therefore controlling and limiting the biggest competitor is a good investment.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- alphabetting 4y ago
  Their data center cooling optimizations has probably already paid for the sale cost and regardless of that the prestige of Deepmind among elite ML talent has helped Google remain a top dog in AI over the years. If say Apple or Amazon had acquired Deepmind they'd be one of the leaders in AI right now.
  - lmm 4y ago
    I think that's just shifting the question; how much return is there on being a "leader in AI"?
  - version_five 4y ago
    I'm very skeptical of the data center cooling thing. That's been trotted out for years as basically the only example of something they did that generated money. It's not really in the wheelhouse of modern ML for starters (it's an optimization problem) so I highly doubt it used a meaningful part of the research or talent tied up in deepmind. Furthermore, I don't believe that google is not somehow running their cooling significantly better than industry standard. I'm sure they found an efficiency but it's probably closer to what a HVAC consultant could have found that they just assign credit to deepmind for. It just feels like one of those examples.
    - pifm_guy 4y ago
      At the extreme, DC cooling is an optimization problem with some hidden/delayed outcomes... For example, if you run your DC's hotter, then you'll save cooling money now, but have to deal with more hardware failures in 3 years time. That kind of problem is isn't a good fit for AI, and is a far better fit for a few guys in a thermal cycling lab with some spreadsheets.
- mathteddybear 4y ago
  maybe they improved accuracy of predicting click through rate? at Google, even LLMs may be worth more than OpenAI if used that way
ZephyrBlu 4y ago
OpenAI seems pretty different to DeepMind. DeepMind was exclusively a research lab, whereas OpenAI has been productizing their research.

aliqot 4y ago

2014 was before things got all willynilly to the degree they are now.

version_five 4y ago

Is there any evidence it was a good investment at that price? As I understand they are a big money sink and haven't done anything commercially valuable

JacobThreeThree 4y ago
It was a good investment because Google doesn't want to see a switch away from their cash-cow search ads business model, therefore controlling and limiting the biggest competitor is a good investment.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
alphabetting 4y ago
Their data center cooling optimizations has probably already paid for the sale cost and regardless of that the prestige of Deepmind among elite ML talent has helped Google remain a top dog in AI over the years. If say Apple or Amazon had acquired Deepmind they'd be one of the leaders in AI right now.
- lmm 4y ago
  I think that's just shifting the question; how much return is there on being a "leader in AI"?
- version_five 4y ago
  I'm very skeptical of the data center cooling thing. That's been trotted out for years as basically the only example of something they did that generated money. It's not really in the wheelhouse of modern ML for starters (it's an optimization problem) so I highly doubt it used a meaningful part of the research or talent tied up in deepmind. Furthermore, I don't believe that google is not somehow running their cooling significantly better than industry standard. I'm sure they found an efficiency but it's probably closer to what a HVAC consultant could have found that they just assign credit to deepmind for. It just feels like one of those examples.
  - pifm_guy 4y ago
    At the extreme, DC cooling is an optimization problem with some hidden/delayed outcomes... For example, if you run your DC's hotter, then you'll save cooling money now, but have to deal with more hardware failures in 3 years time. That kind of problem is isn't a good fit for AI, and is a far better fit for a few guys in a thermal cycling lab with some spreadsheets.
mathteddybear 4y ago
maybe they improved accuracy of predicting click through rate? at Google, even LLMs may be worth more than OpenAI if used that way

ZephyrBlu 4y ago

OpenAI seems pretty different to DeepMind. DeepMind was exclusively a research lab, whereas OpenAI has been productizing their research.