Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis leads the company’s efforts to advance artificial intelligence while balancing research goals with commercial applications. In an extensive interview with Harry McCracken, Hassabis details how the April 2023 merger of DeepMind and Google Brain created a powerhouse AI research organization that now serves as Google’s “engine room.” The combined entity is developing technologies like the Gemini language model, which powers various Google products, while simultaneously pursuing breakthrough research in areas like protein folding and weather forecasting.
Under Hassabis’s leadership, Google DeepMind maintains its focus on achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) while addressing immediate business needs for Google’s consumer products. The company has made significant strides with projects like AlphaFold, which earned Hassabis and colleague John Jumper a Nobel Prize in chemistry, and has launched Isomorphic Labs to commercialize AI applications in drug discovery. Hassabis emphasizes the importance of responsible AI development and maintains that pursuing both scientific advancement and commercial success is not contradictory.