Jeff Dean leaves Google and Demis Hassabis is promoted to chair DeepMind: Google tightens its AI command in mid-race
On Wednesday 5 August, Sundar Pichai announced a reshuffle at the top of the company's AI. Jeff Dean, who joined in 1999 and built part of the group's infrastructure, from distributed systems to TensorFlow, is leaving to found Discovery Loop, a start-up that aims to use AI to speed up scientific discovery, from drug design to chip design; several senior executives are leaving with him. Demis Hassabis, head of Google DeepMind, becomes chair of the subsidiary and Alphabet's chief scientist, a senior role that pulls him away from day-to-day running, while Koray Kavukcuoglu, his chief technology officer, sees his responsibilities widened. Google is now concentrating its AI command in Mountain View, California, to close ranks against Anthropic and OpenAI. Alphabet shares fell 4% on the day of the announcement. Losing several of its figures just as competition sharpens leaves the market doubting continuity at the top.

