Google just completed its $1.5 billion-plus talent deal for AI startup Mechanize

Google has some fresh talent in the AI race.

The tech giant has completed its talent deal with San Francisco startup Mechanize Inc, public postings show.

Mechanize’s co-founder and ex-CEO, Tamay Besiroglu, now works as a research scientist at Google’s AI division, DeepMind, according to his LinkedIn profile. Over a dozen other former Mechanize employees now work at Google, per LinkedIn, mostly on the company’s ‘midtraining’ efforts — a key part of building the best chatbot.

Google and Besiroglu declined to comment.

Google had been in talks for a $1.5 billion-plus deal for Mechanize’s tech and talent, Business Insider previously reported. The…