Former Google LLC Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence startup that will compete in AI video generation and social media.

Forbes reported that the startup Schmidt is working on is called Hooglee LLC and that Schmidt’s family office, Hillspire, is financing and housing it.

According to its website, Hooglee is “on a mission to change the way people connect through the power of AI and video” and that “our team is creating innovative solutions that bring people closer, simplify communication and enhance engagement,” whatever that means. The website does not directly mention Schmidt or its staff.

A source familiar with Hooglee told Forbes that Schmidt’s team has referred to the project as a potential TikTok alternative, but specific details on its features remain unclear.

The startup is said to be led by Sebastian Thrun, a longtime collaborator of Schmidt and a prominent figure in Silicon Valley’s technology sector. Thrun’s history includes co-founding Google’s moonshot factory X as well as its self-driving car unit Waymo, and managing Schmidt’s military-focused drone project, Project Eagle. Hooglee’s team also includes former Meta Platforms Inc. AI researchers and individuals associated with Schmidt’s earlier ventures.

Trademark filings filed by Thrun on behalf of Hooglee indicate that Hooglee plans to combine AI-powered video creation with social networking capabilities, potentially positioning the company to take on established players such as TikTok, OpenAI’s Sora and Runway AI Inc.’s text-to-video generators. If Hooglee’s main focus is AI video, the company will also be competing with Google, which arguably has the best AI video generator on the market — Veo 2.

Hooglee is also Schmidt’s first AI project developed internally, following his investments in companies like Anthropic PBC and SandboxAQ Inc.

Schmidt has previously shared mixed messages on where he stands on AI, often praising its potential to boost productivity while warning of its societal risks. He has previously described AI systems as both transformative and dangerous, even saying in 2022 that “AI could be as destructive as nukes.”

Though not noted in other reports, the choice of name is of interest: Hooglee recalls Google — H is next to G on the keyboard and then add another E to get to Hooglee. The name might not be the final name used by the startup because if SiliconANGLE can see the similarity in the name of Schmidt’s startup, there’s an extremely high chance Google’s lawyers have as well.

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