Noam Shazeer
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Gemini Co-Lead & VP Engineering
Palo Alto, US
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
Noam Shazeer is one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence. Best known for major contributions to large language models, he recently joined OpenAI after serving as Vice President of Engineering and Co-Lead of Google Gemini.
He oversees the development of next-generation large language models and AI systems, guiding research and engineering teams in building scalable infrastructure, multi modal models, and advanced conversational AI technologies.
In 2021, Noam co-founded Character.AI, an early chat platform built on Transformer technology that enables people to create and interact with AI-driven characters across entertainment, education, and creative use cases, predating the launch of ChatGPT.
He has played a pivotal role in foundational AI development, beginning with the Sparsely-Gated Mixture-of-Experts model in 2016, followed by the design of the Transformer’s multi-head attention and residual architecture. In 2018, he introduced Mesh-TensorFlow to support training very large Transformers and later contributed to the T5 text-to-text model in 2019.
Noam also played a central role in Google’s LaMDA conversational AI project, helping define large-scale dialogue system architectures. His work has been recognized with awards including the 2023 WTF Innovators Award for contributions that advance emerging technologies.
On joining Google in 2000, he initially built Google's state-of-the-art spelling-correction system and later developed the PHIL algorithm, which became a core component of Google AdSense. His career encompasses deep technical research, large-scale system design, and leadership in AI product development.
Noam holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from Duke University.
The Record
Background
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2024 — 2026
Gemini Co-Lead & VP Engineering
Google
Google Gemini is Google’s next-generation AI program, focused on developing advanced large language models and multi modal systems that integrate cutting-edge research with scalable, real-world applications.
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2021 — 2024
Chief Executive Officer
Character.AI
Character.AI is a platform that allows people to create and interact with customizable AI characters powered by advanced large language models.
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2012 — 2021
Principal Software Engineer
Google
As a Principal Software Engineer, Noam led the design and development of large-scale AI systems, guiding core architecture decisions and advancing foundational model research.
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2000 — 2009
Software Engineer
Google
As a Software Engineer, Noam focused on building and refining core algorithms and systems that strengthened Google’s early search and advertising technologies.
In The News
Newsfeed
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20 March 2024 · Wired
8 Google Employees Invented Modern AI. Here’s the Inside Story
Read more -
7 September 2023 · Time
Find out why Noam Shazeer Made the TIME100 AI List of the Most Influential People in AI.
Read more -
3 September 2023 · Forbes
Transformers Revolutionized AI. What Will Replace Them?
Read more
Formative Years
Education
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Duke University
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science
1994 — 1998
Areas Of Focus