"I've decided that now is the right time for me to hand over my day-to-day operational responsibilities at GDM, so that I have the time and space to focus on the big picture and help influence what is to come to the best of my ability," Hassabis wrote in a note to employees.
Jeff Dean, one of Google's longest-serving AI leaders and a key contributor to the company's technical infrastructure, is leaving alongside Google senior fellow Sanjay Ghemawat to launch a startup called Discovery Loop. In a post on X, Dean said the company will operate as a public benefit corporation focused on applying AI to science and engineering.
"After an incredible 27-year run, Jeff Dean is at a moment where he wants to try something new, and we're excited to support him in that," Pichai said. He added that Dean and Ghemawat will work to "accelerate discoveries" in machine learning, science and engineering.
Google said it will invest in Discovery Loop and serve as its cloud partner. According to Pichai, the company also plans to collaborate with the startup on a research framework for machine learning systems and related infrastructure.
As part of the leadership changes, Koray Kavukcuoglu will oversee development of Gemini 4, Google's next major AI model, and report directly to Pichai. Google said the promotion places Kavukcuoglu in charge of the company's AI division as it continues developing its next generation of foundation models.
The restructuring comes as Google expands its investment in AI infrastructure and model development. During its latest earnings report, the company said cloud revenue increased to $24.8 billion, with Pichai attributing growth to demand for AI infrastructure, AI solutions and Google's tensor processing units. He also said customer demand for Google's AI models continues to exceed available supply.
"Demand for our models is translating to strong token usage across developers and enterprise customers," Pichai said during the earnings call. "And we continue to be supply constrained, a sign of momentum and rapid adoption."
The leadership changes mark one of Google's most significant AI reorganizations in recent years, combining new executive responsibilities for Hassabis with the departure of one of the company's most influential engineers as Google continues expanding its AI business.
This analysis is based on reporting from CNBC.
Image courtesy of Discovery Loop.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
