Three key leaders behind Google’s NotebookLM have announced they are leaving the company to start their own venture. Raiza Martin, the former team lead, along with designer Jason Spielman and engineer Stephen Hughes, are the co-founders of the new startup. The trio decided to leave Google after feeling there was a huge opportunity to create something innovative in the AI space.
Martin stated, “We couldn’t shake the feeling that there’s a massive opportunity to build something transformative in this space.”
Currently, the startup is operating in stealth mode, with no details revealed about its specific focus or even its name.
Leaders leave to start AI venture
However, Martin mentioned that the new venture will be consumer-oriented, aiming to develop products that harness advanced AI models to create useful tools for everyday users.
“As the frontier models and their capabilities continue to grow, thoughtful products are required to make the benefits of this technology accessible, useful, and obvious to everyday people—so our team is going to be focused on building a user-first AI product,” Martin explained. Although the startup is still in its early stages and has not announced any funding, Martin noted that they have received encouraging support from fellow founders, investors, and academics. The departure of these key team members highlights a growing trend of talented individuals leaving large tech companies to explore new opportunities and innovations in the startup ecosystem.
The tech community will be closely watching to see what groundbreaking solutions emerge from this experienced team.
