In a competitive environment, Google is being forced to pay some AI specialists to do nothing for a year to keep them from leaving for other companies, Business Insider reported.
Image source: Silicon Valley, HBO
Google’s AI division DeepMind is signing some of its UK employees to “strict” non-compete agreements that prevent them from joining a similar company for a year. Some are being paid during that time, which amounts to a long period of unpaid leave. But the move risks researchers losing relevant skills and knowledge as the AI industry advances rapidly.
Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission banned most non-competes, but that did not apply to DeepMind’s London headquarters. In March, Microsoft’s vice president of AI, Nando de Freitas, said some DeepMind employees were “frustrated” when they found non-competes untenable, and urged them not to enter into them. The practice is used “selectively,” Google said.