British artificial-intelligence firm DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman has announced that he will be transferring to Google after taking time off from the company.
Mustafa Suleyman, who co-founded DeepMind, will be leaving the company to work for Google. Suleyman helped in the development of Streams, a health app that garnered controversy after gathering data from millions of NHS patients without direct consent.
In a blog post, DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis wrote: "As a serial entrepreneur, Mustafa played a key role over the past decade, helping to get DeepMind off the ground, and launched a series of innovative collaborations with Google to reduce energy consumption in data centers, improve Android battery performance, optimize Google Play, and find ways to improve the lives of patients, nurses and doctors alike."
"Mustafa leaves DeepMind having helped set us up for long-term success, and I'm looking forward to what he'll achieve in the years ahead as he joins Google in a new role," Hassabis added.
While his new role has not yet been specified, Suleyman tweeted that he would be working "on opportunities and impacts of applied AI technologies" at Google.
Controversial health app
While the company has received praise for creating an AI program that could beat world-class Go players, DeepMind recently faced controversy or its Streams health app, which was integrated into Google Health earlier this year. The company partnered with the Royal Free Hospital in London to develop the app.
It was later revealed that the company used data from 1.6 million patients without seeking consent. While the app is aimed at helping doctors detect acute kidney injury, there were concerns Streams could be developed beyond its intended use.
The Information Commission later ruled that the the hospital did not do enough to protect patient privacy. However, the commission has since said it is satisfied with the subsequent action taken by the hospital.
