Microsoft Hires Ex-Allen Institute AI CEO for Suleyman’s Team
▼ Summary
– Microsoft has hired former Allen Institute for AI CEO Ali Farhadi as a corporate vice president.
– He will report to Mustafa Suleyman, who leads an in-house AI team focused on training frontier models.
– Farhadi recently stepped down from Ai2, where he promoted open and accessible AI research.
– He was a cofounder of Xnor.ai, a startup Apple acquired for $200 million.
– Suleyman’s team aims to make Microsoft self-sufficient in AI by developing advanced models with its own data and computing resources.
Microsoft has strengthened its internal artificial intelligence division with a significant new hire. The company has brought on Ali Farhadi, the recently departed chief executive of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2). Farhadi will join the team led by Mustafa Suleyman, who was recruited earlier this year to build a dedicated AI unit within the tech giant.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Farhadi is listed in Microsoft’s internal directory with the title of corporate vice president. His appointment was confirmed after Suleyman publicly announced the hiring on LinkedIn. Farhadi left his role at the nonprofit AI2 just this month, where his leadership was defined by a commitment to open and accessible AI research. His background also includes co-founding Xnor.ai, a startup specializing in efficient, on-device AI models that was later acquired by Apple for approximately $200 million.
Suleyman’s team, established last November, has a clear and ambitious mandate. As he explained previously, the group is focused on training frontier AI models using Microsoft’s proprietary data and computing infrastructure. The goal is to achieve a state of AI self-sufficiency for the company by developing cutting-edge systems across various scales. This strategic push was further emphasized in a recent internal communication, which stated that Suleyman would now concentrate all his efforts on Microsoft’s superintelligence initiatives. The directive aims to deliver a new class of world-leading AI models within the next five years.
This high-profile recruitment signals Microsoft’s deepening investment in core AI research and development. Bringing a leader like Farhadi, with his strong pedigree in both open research and commercial application, directly into Suleyman’s organization underscores the company’s serious commitment to advancing its proprietary AI capabilities.
(Source: Business Insider)
