Three members of Google's NotebookLM team, including a team leader and a designer, have announced that they are leaving Google for a new stealth startup.
Former team leader Liza Martin said on LinkedIn that she and her two other co-founders, designer Jason Spielman and engineer Stephen Hughes, were “building something transformative in this space. “I couldn't shake the feeling that we had a great opportunity.”
The startup is in complete stealth mode, with only a bare-bones website that doesn't reveal any details about its purpose or even its name. It's unclear whether the startup will focus on the things that made NotebookLM popular, such as AI-generated podcasts and AI-assisted note-taking, or whether it will do something completely different.
In comments to TechCrunch, Martin gave few details but hinted that the startup will be consumer-facing, with the team leveraging the latest AI models to build something useful for the general public. He emphasized that he wanted to do so.
“As Frontier models and their capabilities continue to grow, thoughtful products are required to make the benefits of this technology accessible, convenient, and obvious to everyday people. The team will focus on building user-first AI products,” she said.
Martin added that the new startup is in a very early stage and has not yet announced any funding. However, she said, “The support from outside of Google – from fellow founders, investors, academics, and people who want to get involved – has been tremendous and really encouraging for our small team.”