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Demis Hassabis Steps Down as Google DeepMind CEO After 16 Years, Becomes Alphabet Chief Scientist to Focus Full-Time on AGI
Sundar Pichai announced on August 5, 2026 that Hassabis is moving from CEO to Chair of Google DeepMind and Chief Scientist of Alphabet, with Pichai writing that the two 'have been long discussing a role that allows him to put his full attention on actively shaping the future of AGI.' Koray Kavukcuoglu, DeepMind's CTO and Alphabet's Chief AI Architect, is promoted to SVP reporting directly to Pichai, taking ownership of Gemini model development, frontier research and the Gemini app. The split decouples AGI strategy and policy from day-to-day Gemini product execution — Hassabis keeps the microphone he used for July's 'Framework for Frontier AI' essay while someone else owns the roadmap.
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