Big changes for Google AI as Hassabis, Dean move on

The two executives played an instrumental role in Google's AI strategy over the last decade.

By Tom Krazit

Aug 5, 2026 7:47 PM 2 min read

Big changes for Google AI as Hassabis, Dean move on — Google's new Platform 37 office in London. (Credit: Google)

Two of the most prominent architects of Google's AI strategy over the last decade are stepping down from their posts, leaving big shoes to fill and raising questions about the future direction of that strategy.

Demis Hassabis, the CEO of GoogleDeepMind, is leaving that executive role to become chairman of the AI lab and chief scientist at Alphabet, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post. Koray Kavukcuoglu, currently chief technology officer at GDM, will become the new leader of that unit and report directly to Pichai.

This content is for members only

Already have an account? Sign in

Add The Stack on Google

Tom Krazit

Tom Krazit is The Stack's Editor-in-Chief. He has covered the technology industry for over 20 years, focused on enterprise technology during the rise of cloud computing over the last ten years at Gigaom, Structure and Protocol.