Demis Hassabis Steps Down as Google DeepMind CEO to Become Alphabet Chief Scientist

Demis Hassabis is stepping down as CEO of Google DeepMind to take on a new role as Alphabet's chief scientist, the company confirmed on August 6, 2026. He will also continue leading Isomorphic Labs, the AI drug discovery company he co-founded.

Koray Kavukcuoglu, who previously served as DeepMind's chief technology officer and as Google's chief AI architect, will assume day-to-day leadership of DeepMind as senior vice president.

The leadership change comes as Google's AI division faces a wave of senior departures. Jeff Dean, who served as DeepMind's chief scientist for years, is leaving to co-found a new public-benefit corporation called Discovery Loop, focused on scientific research.

Hassabis co-founded DeepMind in 2010 and led it through its acquisition by Google in 2014. Under his leadership, the lab produced AlphaFold, which solved the protein structure prediction problem, and AlphaGo, which defeated world champion Go players. DeepMind was later merged with Google Brain to form Google DeepMind.

The restructuring reflects Alphabet's effort to position Hassabis as a broader scientific leader across the company, rather than limiting his role to a single division. His new title as chief scientist gives him influence over AI research strategy across Alphabet's various units.

Kavukcuoglu joined DeepMind in 2010 and has been a central figure in the lab's research direction. His promotion to senior vice president signals continuity in DeepMind's research culture even as the leadership structure changes.