The head of Google DeepMind is stepping down from his role and moving into a chairman position, in a major shakeup at the AI research lab.
Demis Hassabis, who founded DeepMind in 2010 before it was acquired in 2014, will also become chief scientist at Google parent company Alphabet. Other high-profile DeepMind staffers are leaving to launch a startup. The moves come as Google looks to keep up in the AI race with OpenAI and Anthropic: An updated version of its flagship Gemini model, which was planned to launch in June, remains unreleased.
A string of prominent AI executives have departed DeepMind in recent months, prompting concerns about the company’s ability to hold onto top AI talent. Investors took Wednesday’s announcement as another sign of trouble: Google shares fell 4%.