Are you someone who would prefer to get paid not to work? Where year long, the money gets credited into your account and you sit around doing nothing, chilling, scrolling through Instagram and watching whatever Netflix is pumping out? You might have seen headlines of some companies paying people to sleep. Basically, do nothing. Has a similar opportunity emerged at Google?
Like most companies focusing on AI, Google’s in the midst of an AI war to develop the best tech and get the most consumer adoption. Every second counts. Every piece of talent counts. Every atom of human intelligence to foster the best artificial intelligence counts. Especially since China came out with DeepSeek recently at a fraction of the cost & Meta, OpenAI and others coming up with interesting AI models. Unfortunately, sometimes, there’s attrition, burnout, stress and maybe, even loneliness.
So, what’s Google said to be doing? Benching some of the brightest minds in AI. So, at Google’s DeepMind division in the UK, these people would be paid handsomely to do nothing. The idea is they get to do absolutely no work for competitors for up to a year and get paid for that period of time. Technically, this is called “garden leave” and it might be super effective in killing talent retention for rival AI companies.
The idea of a corporate-funded sabbatical might be appealing to a few. Imagine all the skills you could learn in 1 year free while still being paid. Imagine all the expertise you could gain. You could even lose that stubborn belly fat. To some extent, it might also mean that one’s career is frozen and one can’t really engage professionally with anyone.
But, could that, also, mean that after that year passes, one’s market relevance, also, diminishes? Or could they smartly upskill themselves in that one year? AI seems to have new models, new techniques and new breakthroughs every day. Use cases are filled quite frequently. Skills might age rapidly and become stale astonishingly quickly.
So, are the sidelines a suitable position for these smart AI minds? Plus, the AI industry and the world, in general, are prevented from any advancements these geniuses could have come up with that year. Is this obliterating human intelligence and creativity? Additionally, it might make the employee frustrated or isolated, almost as if they’re chained. Maybe, the disillusionment might make them leave the AI field altogether. Or, maybe that was the goal of BigTech all along: whatever it takes to make sure no other AI company is benefitted even after one year passes.
A VP of Microsoft AI deems this to be an abuse of power, remarking that it doesn’t justify any end. They, also, advise that one shouldn’t sign such non-competes.
This is like acquiring a really innovative company just to shut it down, because its profound impact is a threat to your company. Ouch, that’s cold. It’s like the opposite of open-source: no collaboration, no cross-pollination, no leaps in breakthroughs or productivity. All the top talent is artificially siloed.
Of course, all of this means that it’s the smaller AI startups that face the deleterious effects. Imagine going to a VC, they ask about the team build-up and you go, “Yes, but you’ll have to wait 1 year for them to join”. Nobody’s going to like that. So, is this a creative way for Google to be anticompetitive?
Or could this mean that smart AI minds in the UK would want to go to some place where non-competes are not as harsh, like India? Maybe, they might look at California first, but California isn’t exactly enjoying a stellar reputation right now. Would some Indian companies looking to use AI as a core competency be able to do anything to bring these AI minds here after a year? Could Hyderabad or Mumbai or Bengaluru become the next safe harbours for UK and US AI talent? “Come to India, the jurisdiction isn’t as restrictive and the food’s a bit more seasoned!”
Maybe, the reality’s a bit harsher and less idyllic. Looking at what Google’s doing, maybe, Indian companies might look at adopting similar restrictive practices locally, even beyond the AI realm.
Is the death of AI progress near with the atrophy of AI talent afoot?
