The team of Gemini leaders at Google has left the company due to a major overhaul of leadership within the artificial intelligence division. Among those departing are engineer Jeff Dean and other leaders of the Gemini model.
The team of Gemini leaders at Google has left the company due to a major overhaul of leadership within the artificial intelligence division. Among those departing are engineer Jeff Dean and other leaders of the Gemini model.
These changes occur at a critical moment for Google DeepMind: the flagship version of the latest Gemini model has yet to be released, despite a planned June launch. This raises concerns among investors and industry circles that Google is falling behind competitors Anthropic and OpenAI, who recently recruited leading specialists from Google AI.
Following this news, shares of Google's parent company, Alphabet, dropped by 4%. Hassabis, a Nobel laureate, announced in a memo to employees his transition from CEO of Google DeepMind to Chairman of the Board, accepting the new role of Chief Scientist at Alphabet. He explained the change in role by citing the proximity to achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which is an advanced state of AI where computers essentially become as intelligent as humans.
Sundar Pichai, head of Alphabet, noted in a separate corporate memo that he had long discussed with Hassabis a role that would allow him to fully concentrate on shaping the future of AGI, calling this work vital for Alphabet and humanity.
Korey Kavukcuoglu, the division's CTO, will take over daily operational duties. He will assume the position of Senior Vice President of Business Units, in addition to his parallel role as Alphabet's Chief AI Architect.
Dean, Sanjeev Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals, and Quoc Le—some of the most renowned and highly regarded leaders in AI and engineering at Google—have left the company to found a startup called Discovery Loop. This startup will specialize in research breakthroughs in machine learning, science, and engineering, structured as a public benefit corporation.
Alphabet has not provided detailed information regarding the reasons for these departures or any overlap in timelines. As Reuters reported in a report last year, some employees who worked with Hassabis claimed that he often prioritized scientific research over generating profit for Google. According to three sources familiar with the process, the London-born scientist viewed the Nobel Prize as a business objective for DeepMind. Previously, insiders reported that he resisted other initiatives that could bring new revenue to Alphabet or improve the company's standing in the AI race.
Allies within Google dismissed the idea that he was too focused on long-term science or neglecting business.
Leaders of Google Cloud, the company's primary source of AI revenue, welcomed Kavukcuoglu's appointment on Wednesday, viewing it as positive news for advancing commercialization efforts. A source with direct knowledge of the situation stated that Kavukcuoglu had already been involved in collaborations between DeepMind and Cloud more actively than Hassabis, and his appointment as head of the AI lab was intended to steer Gemini toward a more product-oriented direction.
An Alphabet representative stated that Hassabis would focus on research and strategy related to the social impact of AGI and would have few direct reports.
In his memo, Hassabis noted 'great progress' in Google's AI models, including the raw update named Gemini 4. He also mentioned that he would dedicate more time to Isomorphic Labs, a drug discovery company spun out of DeepMind, which he founded and continues to lead.
He emphasized: 'I have always believed that the best application of AI should be improving human health. The time has come for AI to prove its undeniable value to the world, and what better way to demonstrate that than by finally helping cure diseases like cancer.'
Dean and Hassabis were long considered two leading figures in AI at Google before the field became a hub of technological innovation. Hassabis co-founded DeepMind in 2010 and continued to lead the London lab after its sale to Google for approximately $650 million in 2014.
Dean co-founded Google Brain in 2011, a US-based division that researched AI separately from Hassabis's team. By then, he was already a respected figure within Google, known for his collaboration with Ghemawat on implementing many landmark infrastructure projects that still support the company's operations.
In 2023, after OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT caught Google off guard, Pichai announced the merger of DeepMind and Google Brain into a new organization called Google DeepMind. Hassabis was appointed its CEO, and Dean was named Chief Scientist.
Until recently, Dean, Vinyals, and Noam Shazeer jointly led the development of Gemini. Under their leadership, Google released Gemini 3 last November, which the industry widely perceived as narrowing the gap with leading models from Anthropic and OpenAI.
However, subsequent achievements by competitors, along with the rise in popularity of cheaper open-source Chinese models, placed Google in a defensive position. At Google's annual developer conference in May, Pichai and other Google leaders emphasized Gemini's price advantage rather than its cutting-edge capabilities.
Shazeer left for OpenAI in June, less than two years after Google spent billions to hire him and his research team from the startup he led. In the same week, senior researcher John Jumper, who won the Nobel Prize with Hassabis in 2024, announced his move to Anthropic.
Vinyals, Le, and former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever co-authored a 2014 research paper that became foundational for modern AI research, establishing the concept that scaling data for AI system 'pre-training' would elevate them to new heights.
Brian Mallory, Chief Market Strategist at Zacks Investment Management, commented: 'Google possesses a deep talent pool, but the loss of these four individuals will leave a mark for some time. Restoring innovation and execution will not be easy, and losing key players will not make the situation any better.'
Alphabet, Google's parent company, has announced significant changes in the leadership of its artificial intelligence division. Demis Hassabis has stepped down from his primary executive role, and several leaders of the Gemini model, including veteran engineer Jeff Dean, have left the company to found a new AI startup.
These personnel shifts occur at a critical juncture for Google DeepMind: the flagship version of the latest Gemini model has yet to be released despite a planned June launch. This has raised concerns among investors and the industry that Google is falling behind competitors Anthropic and OpenAI, who recruited star Google AI employees this summer.
Hassabis, a Nobel laureate, will take on the new role of Chief Scientist at Alphabet, transitioning from CEO of Google DeepMind to Chairman of the Board. He explained this change in role by noting the approaching state of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—an advanced state of AI where computers essentially become as intelligent as humans.
Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's CEO, stated in a separate company-wide memo that he had long discussed a role that would allow Hassabis to focus entirely on shaping the future of AGI. He emphasized that this work is vital for Alphabet and humanity, and he could not imagine a better person for the task.
Koray Kavukçuoğlu, the division's CTO, will assume operational duties within the division. He will hold the position of Senior Vice President, rather than CEO, in addition to his parallel role as Alphabet's Chief AI Architect.
Some of Google's most renowned and highly regarded leaders in AI and engineering, such as Dean, Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals, and Quoc Le, have left the company to create a startup called Discovery Loop. This startup will specialize in research breakthroughs in machine learning, science, and engineering, structured as a public benefit corporation.
Alphabet has not provided detailed information regarding the reasons for these moves or any timing overlap. A Google representative told Reuters that Hassabis, who has long prioritized research over profit, will focus on strategy and research related to the social impact of AGI and will have few direct reports.
In an internal memo, Hassabis noted 'great progress' in Google's AI models, including an unreleased update named Gemini 4. He also mentioned that he will dedicate more time to Isomorphic Labs, a drug discovery company spun out of DeepMind, where he is a founder and CEO.
He stated that he has always believed that the best application of AI should be improving human health, and the time has come for AI to prove its undeniable value to the world, such as by assisting in treating diseases like cancer.
Dean and Hassabis were long considered two leading figures in AI at Google before the field became a hub of technological innovation. Hassabis founded DeepMind in 2010 and continued to lead the London lab after its sale to Google for approximately $650 million in 2014. Dean founded Google Brain in 2011, a US-based division that researched AI separately from Hassabis's team.
By that time, Dean was already a respected figure within Google due to his collaboration with Ghemawat on implementing many landmark infrastructure projects that still run the company. In 2023, after OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT caught Google off guard, Pichai announced the merger of DeepMind and Google Brain into a new organization—Google DeepMind. Hassabis was appointed its CEO, and Dean was named Chief Scientist.
Until recently, Dean, Vinyals, and Noam Shazeer jointly led the development of Gemini. Under their leadership, Google released Gemini 3 last November, which the industry widely viewed as narrowing the gap with leading models from Anthropic and OpenAI. However, subsequent advances by competitors, along with the rise of popular, cheaper open-source Chinese models, placed Google on the defensive.
At Google's annual developer conference in May, Pichai and other Google executives emphasized Gemini's cost advantage rather than its cutting-edge capabilities. Shazeer left for OpenAI in June, less than two years after Google spent billions attracting him and his research team from the startup he led. The same week, senior researcher John Jumper, who won the Nobel Prize with Hassabis in 2024, announced his move to Anthropic. Vinyals, Le, and former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever co-authored the 2014 research that became foundational to modern AI research, establishing the concept that scaling data for AI system 'pre-training' would elevate them to new heights. Discovery Loop received investment from Google and also partnered with Google Cloud to provide computing power.
