Google DeepMind Reshuffles AI Leadership, Hassabis Step Back

Alphabet has announced a major leadership change at Google DeepMind.

As part of the restructuring, CEO Demis Hassabis will step away from daily management and become chairman of the AI unit. He will also take on the role of Alphabet’s chief scientist.

This is happening as Google faces growing pressure from AI rivals, including OpenAI and Anthropic. As a result, Alphabet shares fell 4% after the announcement.

Hassabis said the new position would allow him to focus on artificial general intelligence (AGI). The technology refers to a future form of AI that could match or exceed human intelligence.

Meanwhile, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Hassabis’ role would help him focus on shaping AGI development.

“He and I have been long discussing a role that allows him to put his full attention on actively shaping the future of AGI,” Pichai said.

Following the leadership change, Google DeepMind’s chief technology officer, Koray Kavukcuoglu, will oversee daily operations. He will become senior vice president while continuing as Alphabet’s chief AI architect.

The restructuring comes as Google’s Gemini AI efforts face new challenges. In particular, the company’s latest flagship Gemini model remains unreleased despite an expected June launch.

However, Google is not only dealing with product delays. Several senior researchers are also leaving the company to create a new startup called Discovery Loop.

The founders include Jeff Dean, Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le. Together, they represent some of Google’s most recognised AI and engineering talent.

Additionally, Discovery Loop will focus on machine learning, science and engineering research. The company will operate as a public benefit corporation.

Google has invested in the startup. It will also provide computing support through Google Cloud.

At the same time, Kavukcuoglu’s appointment is expected to push Google DeepMind toward more commercial AI applications. He has previously worked closely with Google Cloud on AI projects.

The leadership changes follow a series of recent departures from Google’s AI division. Earlier, Noam Shazeer joined OpenAI, while Nobel Prize-winning researcher John Jumper moved to Anthropic.

Separately, Hassabis will spend more time at Isomorphic Labs, a drug discovery company created from DeepMind. He remains the company’s CEO.