Big Technology Podcast · Saturday, August 8, 2026
Demis Hassabis has stepped down as CEO of Google DeepMind to become chairman and chief scientist. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the change on X. The move comes amid differing views on AI research priorities, with Hassabis reportedly focusing more on scientific breakthroughs outside of large language models (LLMs) and less on commercial demands.
“Demis Hassabis is stepping down as chief executive of Google DeepMind to become chairman and chief scientist.”
“Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a post on X. Google DeepMind Technology Chief Koray Kavukcu is taking on responsibility for all AI model development and Jeff Keen, Google's current chief scientist is leaving with three other company veterans to co-found a new AI startup.”