3 ms·

Sergey might have some positive influence on Gemini, but given that he isn't an AI scientist ( AKA no technical background), I really do wonder what sort of inf

by nsoonhui 10mo ago

Sergey might have some positive influence on Gemini, but given that he isn't an AI scientist ( AKA no technical background), I really do wonder what sort of influence that (only) he could have had, beyond just bringing in key people.

slyall 10mo ago
I assume by "no technical background" you mean he doesn't have a PHD in AI. He's probably not developing the low-level algorithms but he can probably do everything else and has years of experience doing so. He's also perfectly able to spend 60 hours a week improving his AI skills using the best teachers in the world.
- almostgotcaught 10mo ago
  [flagged]
  - slyall 10mo ago
    I'm not sure what you mean by "he literally can't and he literally doesn't" but he's got PHD in CompSci and did everything at Google in the past from writing complex code himself to managing small teams to managing huge teams. Exactly what do you think he can't do? Certainly he's well qualified to manage a team of a few thousand (?) AI people and understand what they are talking about and get the best out of them. Like Batman he has the superpower of money. If he has gaps he can pay (or otherwise arrange) for someone with those skills to 1-1 coach him in them. He's not trying to become a top researcher, he's trying to learn enough to understand what they are talking about and be able to make decisions around say what areas should be pursued.
    - almostgotcaught 10mo ago
      [flagged]
      - dang 10mo ago
        Could you please stop posting in the flamewar style? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful. Edit: you've been breaking the site guidelines repeatedly and extremely badly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46470097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46470097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46461928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46461928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46460655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46460655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46426226 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46426226 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46425616 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46425616 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46420674 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46420674 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394806 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394806 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46293387 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46293387 (Dec 2025) This is such a high proportion of what you've been posting that I think we have to ban the account. I don't want to do that, because it's clear that you know a lot about things that people here are interested in—but the damage caused by these poisonous, aggressive comments is greater than the benefit you've been adding by sharing knowledge. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
fragmede 10mo ago
The man that invented PageRank while going to college at Stanford for a PhD doesn't have a technical background? He did not get that PhD because he founded Google. He may not be as smart as you think you are, but he's no slouch either.
- ithkuil 10mo ago
  A charitable interpretation of what GP said is that Brin might not have a specific expertise in AI. I also think this doesn't make sense, because he certainly stayed on top of things

slyall 10mo ago

I assume by "no technical background" you mean he doesn't have a PHD in AI. He's probably not developing the low-level algorithms but he can probably do everything else and has years of experience doing so. He's also perfectly able to spend 60 hours a week improving his AI skills using the best teachers in the world.

almostgotcaught 10mo ago
[flagged]
- slyall 10mo ago
  I'm not sure what you mean by "he literally can't and he literally doesn't" but he's got PHD in CompSci and did everything at Google in the past from writing complex code himself to managing small teams to managing huge teams. Exactly what do you think he can't do? Certainly he's well qualified to manage a team of a few thousand (?) AI people and understand what they are talking about and get the best out of them. Like Batman he has the superpower of money. If he has gaps he can pay (or otherwise arrange) for someone with those skills to 1-1 coach him in them. He's not trying to become a top researcher, he's trying to learn enough to understand what they are talking about and be able to make decisions around say what areas should be pursued.
  - almostgotcaught 10mo ago
    [flagged]
    - dang 10mo ago
      Could you please stop posting in the flamewar style? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful. Edit: you've been breaking the site guidelines repeatedly and extremely badly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46470097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46470097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46461928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46461928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46460655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46460655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46426226 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46426226 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46425616 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46425616 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46420674 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46420674 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394806 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394806 (Dec 2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46293387 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46293387 (Dec 2025) This is such a high proportion of what you've been posting that I think we have to ban the account. I don't want to do that, because it's clear that you know a lot about things that people here are interested in—but the damage caused by these poisonous, aggressive comments is greater than the benefit you've been adding by sharing knowledge. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

fragmede 10mo ago

The man that invented PageRank while going to college at Stanford for a PhD doesn't have a technical background? He did not get that PhD because he founded Google. He may not be as smart as you think you are, but he's no slouch either.

ithkuil 10mo ago
A charitable interpretation of what GP said is that Brin might not have a specific expertise in AI. I also think this doesn't make sense, because he certainly stayed on top of things