AI startup Cohere just hired Joelle Pineau — the former co-director of Facebook’s now-defunct AI lab — as its new Chief AI Officer. As one of the world’s leading AI scientists and a McGill University professor, Pineau adds deep experience to her new role. She was the director of research at Meta, formerly Facebook. There, she worked closely with AI pioneer and Llama creator Yann LeCun on advancing the company’s open Llama AI models.
Pineau’s exit from Meta in May 2023 officially closed the chapter on nearly eight years with the tech giant. In the intervening years, she has turned her attention full-time to Cohere. As for Michele, she’s been following this startup since its inception in 2019. She’s excited to be part of Cohere. This decision further demonstrates her enthusiasm for collaborating with a company built by compatriots from her home country of Canada.
In her new role, Pineau is committed to steering Cohere’s research focus toward the North platform. This is the startup that’s particularly focused on developing AI agents. Her goal is to develop heuristics for assessing these systems. She argues that it is very important for AI agents to be able to work in private and secure environments.
Pineau feels there’s a special opportunity with Cohere. It can drive innovative research and attract top talent to the organization. She noted that a lot of her former coworkers at Meta were eager to follow her to her new company. This enthusiasm is a great demonstration of the potential to build a strong coalition.
“Hiring a bunch of superstars doesn’t necessarily make a superstar team.” – Joelle Pineau
While Cohere is dwarfed by the resources Meta can bring to bear, Pineau is hopeful. She does believe, though, that she can be quick on her feet and nimble in her new role. They always enjoyed the in-depth knowledge base of AI researchers at Cohere. As her team grows, she’s committed to being very intentional about adding new people to her team.
Pineau’s observations are representative of a marked shift in attitudes about the current state of AI development. She remarked, “A lot of players out there are quite singularly focused on AGI, superintelligence, and so on. They haven’t necessarily figured out what this AI is going to be used for.” This ambitious project underscores her desire to direct Cohere towards more functional applications of AI technology versus strictly chasing theoretical breakthroughs.
Pineau can’t wait to begin her new chapter with Cohere. We’re thrilled that she’s now equipped to make major contributions to the company’s mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. Under her leadership, the team will continue to be fueled by a desire to find breakthrough solutions. At the same time, she’ll make sure that ethical considerations remain front and center in their work.
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