Google DeepMind enters a new era as co-founder Demis Hassabis shifts AI role
Observers express concern that the division has lost its independence and commercial reality has taken over When Sir Demis Hassabis said AI had brought the world to a “pivotal moment in human history” last month, he knew another big change was imminent. This shift was closer to home. The Nobel prize-winning head of Google DeepMind, Google’s AI unit, announced this week he was relinquishing his…
Demis Hassabis is stepping down as CEO of Google DeepMind, the AI unit of Google's parent company Alphabet. He will become chair of DeepMind and take on the role of chief scientist at Alphabet. According to Computerworld, Hassabis will focus on shaping the future of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Koray Kavukcuoglu, currently DeepMind's CTO, will take over as CEO, reporting directly to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Hassabis' new role follows the departure of Jeff Dean, who is leaving to work at a start-up.
Some observers have expressed concern that DeepMind has lost its independence, with commercial reality taking over, as reported by the Guardian. Hassabis has been a strong promoter of AGI, and his new role may enable him to focus on this area. According to Business Insider, Google insiders view Hassabis' move as a way to find the next leap in AI.
Brief written by urgent.news from Guardian Business, Guardian Technology, Computerworld, Business Insider, Techmeme — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
