Head of Amazon AGI Lab Breaks Silence on 'Reverse Acquisition' Controversy: For AGI, I Had No Choice
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The tech world's hottest topic is reignited. Last year, when Amazon recruited the founding team of AI startup Adept in an unprecedented manner, the entire industry was shaken. This novel transaction model, dubbed 'reverse talent acquisition,' allows tech giants to achieve their goals by poaching core teams and obtaining technology licenses without fully acquiring startups.
The central figure in this deal, David Luan, transitioned from Adept's co-founder and CEO to become the leader of Amazon's brand-new AGI lab. Now, facing waves of external criticism, Luan has finally broken his silence, offering a robust defense of his decision in an interview with The Verge.
When asked about this 'reverse talent acquisition' trend, Luan's response was profound. He candidly expressed his hope to be 'remembered as an AI research innovator rather than a deal structure innovator.' Yet, from his perspective, it's entirely reasonable for tech giants like Amazon to 'concentrate critical mass of talent and computing resources' at this juncture.
Even more thought-provoking is Luan's explanation for leaving the company he founded. He openly stated his reluctance to build Adept into 'an enterprise company selling small models.' In his view, there are 'four key research challenges on the path to AGI' that urgently need solving—his true mission.
Most striking is Luan's frank description of resource requirements. He bluntly pointed out that addressing these core problems would require 'computing clusters worth tens of billions of dollars each.' Faced with such astronomical resource demands, he posed a rhetorical question: 'What other opportunity would I have to achieve this goal?'
These remarks not only provide a strong defense for his career choice but also reveal the harsh reality of the current AI race: on the ultimate track toward artificial general intelligence, only tech giants with vast resources can truly participate in this world-changing game.