DeepMind founder and AI expert, Demis Hassabis, is reportedly set for a larger role within Google, potentially leading the company’s AI efforts. This comes amid the intensifying global race for AI dominance.
What Happened: Hassabis, who sold DeepMind to Alphabet’s Google GOOGL GOOG in 2014, has been increasingly involved in Google’s AI operations. After years of maintaining DeepMind’s independence, Google merged it with its internal AI initiatives in 2023, thrusting Hassabis into a central role, according to a Business Insider report.
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Insiders close to Hassabis suggest he may soon have more control over the AI technology he develops, and could potentially lead the company. Hassabis, who originally envisioned the AI race being driven by academics and researchers, now faces the challenge of integrating AI into Google’s commercial products.
His responsibilities include managing a 6,000-strong team in Google’s AI division, which recently acquired the core team of AI coding startup Windsurf. His potential ascent to the top of Google could further solidify the company’s position in the AI landscape.
“His rise reminds me of Sundar’s,” stated a longtime Google employee, drawing parallels between Hassabis and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
A former Google executive expressed skepticism over Hassabis’s rise to the CEO position. “..being CEO would push him away from the things he wants to do. This guy wants to cure cancer.”
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Why It Matters: Hassabis, a British cognitive neuroscience Ph.D., co-founded DeepMind in 2010 to build general-purpose AI. He sold it to Google in 2014 for $650 million, with the condition that an AI ethics board would oversee its technology.
In past interviews, Hassabis claimed he introduced Elon Musk to AI and credited himself with much of DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman's AI knowledge, highlighting his influence on key figures in the field.
Hassabis’ potential rise to a more prominent role in Google’s AI operations comes at a time when he has been vocal about the future of AI. In June 2025, Hassabis emphasized that AI will create new, “very valuable” roles and “supercharge” technically savvy individuals. He also urged Gen Alpha to immerse themselves in AI tools to ride the next wave of technology.
His cautious outlook on the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI), which he believes will come just after 2030, contrasts with Google co-founder Sergey Brin‘s more optimistic timeline. This difference in opinion underscores the challenges and uncertainties surrounding the development and implementation of AI.
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