Alphabet Reshapes AI Leadership as Demis Hassabis Takes Chief Scientist Role

Alphabet has announced a major leadership reshuffle within its artificial intelligence division, with Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis stepping away from his primary managerial duties as the company seeks to accelerate its AI ambitions.

The changes come at a critical moment for Google DeepMind. The flagship version of its latest Gemini model remains unreleased despite an expected June launch, raising concerns among investors and industry observers that Google is losing ground to rivals. Following the announcement, Alphabet shares fell 4%.

Hassabis, a Nobel Prize recipient, will become Alphabet’s newly created chief scientist while transitioning from his role as Google DeepMind chief executive to chairman of the AI unit. In a memo to employees, he said the growing proximity of artificial general intelligence (AGI) prompted his decision to focus on long-term scientific work.

Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai said he and Hassabis had discussed the move over an extended period. Pichai described the role as allowing Hassabis to devote his attention to shaping the future of AGI, which he said is strategically important for both Alphabet and society.

Koray Kavukcuoglu Takes Operational Control

Koray Kavukcuoglu, Google DeepMind’s chief technology officer, will assume responsibility for the unit’s day-to-day operations. He will serve as senior vice president while retaining his position as Alphabet’s chief AI architect.

Meanwhile, Alphabet confirmed that several prominent AI leaders have departed the company. Veteran engineer Jeff Dean, Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le have launched a new startup called Discovery Loop. The public benefit corporation will focus on machine learning, science and engineering research.

However, Alphabet did not explain what prompted the simultaneous leadership changes or departures.

Greater Focus on Commercialising Gemini

The leadership overhaul comes as Google works to strengthen the commercial performance of its AI products.

According to a source familiar with the matter, senior executives within Google Cloud welcomed Kavukcuoglu’s appointment because of his close involvement in collaborations between DeepMind and the cloud business. His promotion is expected to steer Gemini towards a more product-focused strategy while supporting commercial deployment.

In contrast, Hassabis will concentrate on AI research, long-term strategy and the societal implications of AGI. An Alphabet spokesperson said he will oversee relatively few direct reports in his new role.

In his memo, Hassabis highlighted the progress made on Google’s AI models, including an unreleased upgrade known as Gemini 4.

He also said he intends to dedicate more time to Isomorphic Labs, the drug discovery company that spun out of DeepMind and where he continues to serve as chief executive. Hassabis said he believes healthcare remains AI’s most important application and expressed optimism that artificial intelligence can help tackle diseases such as cancer.

High-Profile Departures Mark a Turning Point

For years, Hassabis and Jeff Dean were regarded as Google’s leading AI figures.

Hassabis co-founded DeepMind in 2010 before selling the company to Google in 2014 for around $650 million, while continuing to lead its operations from London.

Dean co-founded Google Brain in 2011, establishing a separate AI research organisation within Google. He also became widely recognised for developing many of the company’s core infrastructure systems alongside Sanjay Ghemawat.

Following the rapid rise of generative AI, Alphabet merged Google Brain and DeepMind in 2023 to create Google DeepMind. Hassabis became chief executive, while Dean was appointed chief scientist.

Until recently, Dean, Oriol Vinyals and Noam Shazeer jointly led development of the Gemini models. Google released Gemini 3 last November, narrowing the competitive gap with rival AI systems. However, more recent advances from competitors and growing momentum behind lower-cost open-source models have increased pressure on Google.

The company has also experienced notable departures in recent months. Noam Shazeer left for a rival AI company in June, while senior research scientist John Jumper, who shared a Nobel Prize with Hassabis in 2024, also announced his departure.

Despite these losses, Discovery Loop has secured investment from Alphabet and entered into a partnership with Google Cloud, which will provide computing infrastructure for the new venture.

With inputs from Reuters