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Adopted by OpenAI Google Albert Lee will lead corporate development, a spokesperson for the artificial intelligence startup confirmed to CNBC.
Mr. Lee previously led corporate development for Google Cloud and Google DeepMind. He was involved in several high-profile acquisitions for Google, including the company’s $32 billion acquisition of cloud security startup Wiz, which it announced in March.
In his new role, Lee will have a broad perspective across OpenAI as the company focuses on strategic investments and M&A for its next phase of growth, a spokesperson said. His hiring signals that OpenAI will continue to look for targets that can help it gain an edge over rivals such as: google And humanity.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit research institute in 2015, but since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, its valuation has ballooned to $500 billion.
AI Labs has made several acquisitions this year. More recently, OpenAI announced a definitive agreement earlier this month to acquire Neptune, a startup that helps train AI models. The companies did not disclose terms.
OpenAI also acquired a small business called Software Applications Incorporated in October for an undisclosed sum, product development startup Statsig in September for $1.1 billion, and former Apple designer Jony Ive’s AI device startup io in May for more than $6 billion.
Lee is the latest of several executives to join OpenAI as the company looks to fill its leadership team.
Earlier this month, OpenAI announced that Slack CEO Dennis Dresser would become chief revenue officer. In May, the company announced it had hired then-CEO Fiji Simo. instacartas Head of Applications Business at AI lab.
The Information first reported Lee’s departure from Google.
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