Google overhauls AI organization... 'AI legend' Jeff Dean departs, Hassabis named chief scientist

[Financial News, New York = Reporter Lee Byung-chul] Google has completely revamped its Artificial Intelligence (AI) organization. Jeff Dean, the chief scientist who led Google's core AI research for 27 years, is leaving the company to start a new venture, while Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, will serve as chief scientist of parent company Alphabet Inc.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the AI reorganization in an internal memo on the 5th, local time.
Under the new structure, Hassabis will shift from CEO of DeepMind Technologies Limited to chairman while also serving as chief scientist of Alphabet Inc. He will oversee the long-term strategy for AI research and global AI policy, working directly with Pichai.
Jeff Dean will found an AI startup called 'Discovery Loop' with Google senior fellow Sanjay Ghemawat. The new company is expected to operate as a public-interest corporation focused on AI research in science and engineering.
Google has decided to make a direct investment in the startup to support Dean's new venture.
Pichai said, "Jeff Dean achieved remarkable results at Google over 27 years, and now is the time for him to take on a new challenge," adding, "The company will actively support his new journey."
The AI organization will also be restructured.
Google promoted Koray Kavukcuoglu, CTO of DeepMind Technologies Limited, to head of the AI organization. He will oversee development of Google's next-generation AI model, Gemini 4, and report directly to Pichai.
The reorganization comes amid intensifying competition for AI leadership. Google is competing with OpenAI and Anthropic in the race to build large-scale AI models, while also sharply increasing investment in data center workload and cloud infrastructure to expand AI services.
In fact, Google recently posted negative free cash flow for the first time since its founding, due to the impact of massive capital expenditures in the latest quarter. The company has set its capital spending target at up to $205 billion this year.
In a memo to employees, Hassabis said, "I will hand over day-to-day organizational management to my successor and focus going forward on the long-term strategy for AI and the direction of future research."
Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc. shares fell about 4% intraday after the reorganization was announced.



[email protected] Reporter Lee Byung-chul Reporter