Google Pays AI Employees to Do Nothing — Just So They Don’t Go to Competitors

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.