Google DeepMind’s co-founder Demis Hassabis is stepping back from day-to-day duties, moving to chair of DeepMind and becoming Alphabet’s chief scientist, as the AI unit tightens integration with its U.S. parent. The shift places longtime lieutenant Koray Kavukcuoglu in a senior vice president role overseeing DeepMind amid intensifying competition from OpenAI and Anthropic and reported delays to Google’s next flagship model, Gemini 3.5 Pro. Internally, the company faces unrest over defense-related work and labor issues as Google seeks to balance safety commitments with commercial imperatives. The changes coincide with the exit of veteran AI leader Jeff Dean to form a startup, fueling fresh concerns about talent retention. Despite the turbulence, Google retains deep financial resources and distribution advantages across Search, Cloud and YouTube, while Hassabis advocates for a U.S. AI safety body as the industry nears more capable systems.
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