Google is losing a race it once led, and the problem may be its own people. Six current and former DeepMind employees told Axios that low morale is slowing the lab’s model releases, Axios reported.
The immediate symptom is Gemini 3.5 Pro. Google’s most powerful model is months behind, according to Bloomberg. Google did ship a batch of smaller, cheaper models this week, to mixed reviews. Rivals pounced. “Gemini who?” Meta’s Alexandr Wang posted on X.
The timing stings because the money is flowing out. Google beat earnings on Wednesday, but its free cash flow turned negative, largely on AI spending. It is on track to spend $190bn this year.
Cloud revenue grew 82%, yet search came in light, sharpening the question of whether the capex will pay off.
A talent exodus
