Google DeepMind is changing its leadership today. Demis Hassabis will become Chair of GDM and Chief Scientist of Alphabet, while Koray Kavukcuoglu steps up as SVP of Google DeepMind and reports to Sundar Pichai.
The shift keeps Hassabis close to Google’s AI research while moving him into a broader role across Alphabet. It also gives Koray day-to-day responsibility for Gemini model development, Frontier AI research, and the Gemini app and developer teams.
Sundar Pichai’s team reshuffle
Sundar Pichai told Google DeepMind teams that the changes are meant to help the company do two things at once: move faster and stay focused on the AI frontier.
He wrote, “Today Demis, Koray and I are sharing a few changes to our Google DeepMind teams that will enable us to do both.”
He also said, “So, moving forward, Demis will become the Chair of GDM and Chief Scientist of Alphabet, while continuing to lead Isomorphic Labs.”
Koray Kavukcuoglu’s new remit
Koray’s move is more than a title change. As SVP of Google DeepMind, he will sit above the teams building Gemini models, Frontier AI research, and the Gemini app and developer teams, which makes his job the operating layer between research and products.
Google says the Gemini app has more than 950M monthly users, and Gemma models have passed 900M downloads.
Jeff Dean after 27 years
The other sharp break is Jeff Dean’s exit after an incredible 27-year run. Pichai said Dean wants to try something new, and Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat are launching an independent public benefit corporation to accelerate discoveries in ML, science, and engineering.
Jeff Dean’s move matters because it removes one of Google’s longest-running technical leaders from the core AI chain just as the company says Flash is in high demand and its Cyber model is live.
What follows from the reshuffle is clearer at the top than in the product roadmap. Google has named who will steer the work, but it has not laid out which specific products, research programs, or internal teams will change next.
