Google is spinning out dozens of employees from its artificial-intelligence research division into a new group focused on machine learning, as part of a push to make "substantial gains" in AI, Insider has learned. The group will be "the new center of gravity" for how Google applies machine learning to its own products, according to a memo sent to staff recently, a copy of which Insider reviewed. It will sit inside Google's core division, which builds the technical infrastructure behind Google's flagship products. The move underscores the growing importance of machine learning -- in which algorithms are trained with large data sets and improve through experience -- for the future of Google's business. CEO Sundar Pichai has made huge bets on AI, once calling the technology more profound than fire or electricity.