Demis Hassabis Becomes Chair of Google DeepMind

Google DeepMind Leadership Change Makes Demis Hassabis Chair

Hassabis becomes Chief Scientist of Alphabet and Chair of Google DeepMind (GDM), and Kavukcuoglu steps up to lead GDM as SVP. Google put the news on its official blog in August 2026, in a post titled "The next chapter of our AI momentum".

The post reproduces two messages that went out to employees. The first is from Sundar Pichai, who is listed as CEO of Google and Alphabet. The second is from Hassabis.

An editor's note at the top says Pichai shared changes with the Google DeepMind teams, including new roles for Hassabis and Kavukcuoglu. Hassabis calls his new role a strategic one, and Kavukcuoglu leads GDM under the title SVP.

Pichai frames the change with usage figures. The Gemini app has reached 950M+ monthly users, he says, and downloads of the Gemma models have surpassed 900M+.

He argues that Google has to speed up this work and stay on the AI frontier while also helping to shape the future of AGI and science. The changes to the GDM teams, he says, will let Google do both.

A Google DeepMind CEO Change? Neither Message Uses the Title

Neither message gives a GDM leader the title CEO, although headlines at TIME and eciks.org frame the move as a CEO stepping aside. The messages use other titles: Chair and Chief Scientist for Hassabis, SVP for Kavukcuoglu. On the blog page the word CEO appears only for Pichai, in the editor's note and the byline.

Hassabis explains the move in his own note. He says the time is right to hand over his daily operating duties at GDM, which frees up time and room for the bigger picture. He calls what he takes on a new strategic role, and neither message calls it an exit.

Alphabet Also Makes Demis Hassabis Chief Scientist

His Alphabet title is Chief Scientist, and he keeps leading Isomorphic Labs. Pichai says Hassabis has been spending a good deal of his time on external engagement. The two had talked for a long time about a role that would let him give his full attention to shaping the future of AGI.

Hassabis stays in touch with the people running GDM. Pichai says Hassabis will remain closely connected to Kavukcuoglu, to Josh (who appears by first name only in both messages) and to the GDM teams, advising on models and research. Hassabis adds that he will keep working closely with Pichai on strategic and global AGI matters, and that he will advise Kavukcuoglu, Josh and the GDM leads from the new London Platform 37 offices.

Hassabis says he will lean further into his role at Isomorphic Labs, where he describes the progress as extremely rapid and promising. He also says he has always believed that the No.1 application of AI should be improving human health.

Who Is Koray Kavukcuoglu, Now Running Google DeepMind Day to Day?

Koray Kavukcuoglu, GDM's Chief Technology Officer at the time of the announcement, steps up as SVP of Google DeepMind and leads it from here. Hassabis's note pairs two announcements: he hands over his operating duties, and Kavukcuoglu steps up to lead GDM. Kavukcuoglu is also Google's Chief AI Architect, and Hassabis says he keeps that role in addition to SVP.

Kavukcuoglu has been at DeepMind since its early days. Pichai counts 13 years there and says he started the deep learning team and led the way on WaveNet and DQN. The message names both without describing them.

Hassabis says the two have worked together for more than 13 years, since DeepMind's early days. He calls Kavukcuoglu one of the foremost AI experts in the world and says he has argued for GDM's mission from day one.

Hassabis also says the Gemini models are in good hands with Kavukcuoglu and the other leads, as they have been for a while. He points to progress on new models including Gemini 4, but Hassabis's message gives no release date for Gemini 4 and does not say it has launched.

What Koray Kavukcuoglu Oversees as SVP of Google DeepMind

As SVP he oversees the Gemini app and developer teams, Frontier AI research, and Gemini model development. Pichai lists these three areas for Kavukcuoglu and says Kavukcuoglu will report to Pichai.

Jeff Dean Leaving Google for a New Company With Sanjay Ghemawat

Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat are launching an independent public benefit corporation after Dean's 27-year run. The last item in Pichai's message is about Dean. Pichai writes that Dean has reached a point where he wants to try something new, and that Google is excited to support him in that.

Ghemawat is a Google Senior Fellow. Pichai gives the corporation's aim as faster discovery in ML, science, and engineering. Pichai's message is short on details: it does not name the company, give a launch date or state an investment amount, and it says nothing further about Dean's position at Google.

Google Backs Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat as a Founding Investor

Google stays involved with the two as Cloud partner and founding investor. Pichai also mentions joint work on a research framework covering ML systems and related infrastructure advances. The company itself is covered in Jeff Dean Leaves Google to Found Discovery Loop.

Summary

• Hassabis hands over his daily operating duties at GDM and becomes Chief Scientist of Alphabet and Chair of GDM. His own note describes a new role, and he keeps leading Isomorphic Labs.
• Kavukcuoglu, GDM's CTO at the time of the announcement, steps up as SVP of Google DeepMind and reports to Pichai. He oversees the Gemini app and developer teams, Frontier AI research, and Gemini model development.
• Pichai's message also says Dean and Ghemawat are launching an independent public benefit corporation. Google continues as founding investor and Cloud partner.