Inside the Google executive moves that led to its big AI reshuffle
On August 5, the Mountain View, California, tech giant announced a sweeping leadership overhaul of its Google DeepMind AI division in which its chief, Demis Hassabis, stepped aside in favor of his deputy, Koray Kavukcuoglu. Hassabis became chair, with fewer management obligations. At the same time, the two original technical co-leads of Gemini quit to co-found a startup.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, urged key AI staff to focus on the company's Gemini model in recent months as Alphabet strives to surpass rivals in the AI race. At a town hall meeting in April, Brin encouraged Google DeepMind AI lab to accelerate its pace, according to sources familiar with the remarks. Google's Gemini model had initially led the pack in November, but updates from Anthropic and OpenAI have since pushed it back into catch-up mode.
By August, the company delayed the next iteration of Gemini by two months due to poor performance in areas such as coding, according to sources.
On August 5, Google announced a significant leadership overhaul of its Google DeepMind AI division, with Demis Hassabis stepping down as chief in favor of his deputy, Koray Kavukcuoglu. Hassabis became chair with fewer managerial responsibilities. Two original technical co-leads of Gemini then quit to co-found a startup. These changes in leadership and structure come as part of Alphabet's efforts to achieve model supremacy in the AI industry.
The reorganization marks an erosion of DeepMind's autonomy, which Google has been gradually diminishing since acquiring the London-based lab in 2014. The shakeup includes Google DeepMind employees moving into corporate Google structures, according to sources. Despite the reassurances from Hassabis and Kavukcuoglu, some staff members remain worried about the lab's future, as the message signaled a shift in the balance of power within the organization.
Written by urgent.news from Economic Times Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
