Google announces Google DeepMind, a unit combining DeepMind's team and Google Research's Brain team, to be led by DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis as its CEO
two sides of incumbent disruption. Miles Kruppa / @mileskruppa : Google is merging its two AI research units into something called “Google DeepMind” led by DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis https://www.wsj.com/... Jeremy Hunt / @jeremy_hunt : This is a big development. It sounds very techy, but Google has just merged its two Artificial Intelligence research units into one...based in the UK. There is going to be lots of competition and a long way to go, but this is a significant step. https://www.wsj.com/... Stephen Shankland / @stshank : New “Google DeepMind” now in charge of unified AI work, led by Demis Hassabis. Jeff Dean, who'd led the other Google Research effort (and was involved with Timnit Gebru fiasco), gets a lateral move to chief scientist reporting to @sundarpichai. https://blog.google/... Noah Smith / @noahpinion : Facing unprecedented threats from non-Google entities, Google will ally with Google https://twitter.com/... @deepmind : This new unit will be led by @DemisHassabis and bring together our talent, infrastructure and resources to create the next generation of AI breakthroughs and products. ↓ https://twitter.com/... Rosanne Liu / @savvyrl : A personal update: I just joined Google Deepmind https://twitter.com/... Koray Kavukcuoglu / @koraykv : Looking forward to working with many brilliant research colleagues from across the @DeepMind & @Google Research Brain. Excited to join forces to accelerate progress towards a world where #AI helps solve humanity's biggest challenges https://www.deepmind.com/... https://twitter.com/... Gavin Sheridan / @gavinsblog : Google starting to get their ducks in a row. https://twitter.com/... @bennetttomlin : I was not aware these were separate teams https://twitter.com/... Will Oremus / @willoremus : Google just announced it's merging its top two AI research labs: London-based DeepMind, which it acquired in 2014, and Mountain View-based Google Brain. The merged team will be called Google DeepMind and be led by DeepMind CEO @demishassabis. https://blog.google/... @drjimfan : Google Brain and DeepMind just merged to form one team. AI research can no longer be random acts of papers. Pooling talent and resources together is the best way of making impact now. Excited to see what's next. https://www.deepmind.com/... Nat Friedman / @natfriedman : Google Brain merges with DeepMind, under Demis's leadership. An excellent move by Google. https://twitter.com/...
Wall Street JournalMiles Kruppa
Context & Ripple Effects
Google is combining two previously distinct AI organizations under Demis Hassabis, concentrating leadership and research responsibility in a single Google DeepMind unit. The move follows DeepMind's long-standing effort to preserve some autonomy within Google, reflected in an earlier arrangement limiting unilateral control of its IP.
Later coverage frames the merger as a trade-off in which Hassabis accepted less of DeepMind's independence for greater influence over Google's AI direction, and describes the resulting unit's shift from research toward products as a research-to-product super-unit.
First-order effects
DeepMind and Google Research's Brain team move into one organization, with Hassabis becoming the clear executive owner of the combined AI effort.
Google replaces parallel top-level AI research structures with a unified unit, centralizing decisions over priorities and execution.
Second-order effects
A single leadership chain should make it easier for Google to align foundational research with product teams, but it also makes the combined unit's ability to navigate Google's bureaucracy more consequential.
The merger raises the stakes for competing AI organizations: Google can present one coordinated research and product counterpart rather than separate DeepMind and Brain efforts.
Third-order effects
If this model holds, large technology companies may increasingly treat frontier AI labs less as semi-independent research groups and more as centrally managed product-and-platform capabilities.
The durability of that approach will depend on whether consolidation preserves the autonomy and research culture that made such labs valuable while improving delivery into products.
The trend: This is one data point in the consolidation of AI research, compute, and product authority inside major technology platforms.
The phenomenal teams from Google Research's Brain and @DeepMind have made many of the seminal research advances that underpin modern AI, from Deep RL to Transformers. Now we're joining forces as a single unit, Google DeepMind, which I'm thrilled to lead! https://dpmd.ai/...
We're proud to announce that DeepMind and the Brain team from @Google Research will become a new unit: 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱. Together, we'll accelerate progress towards a world where AI can help solve the biggest challenges facing humanity. → https://dpmd.ai/...
Working with all our fantastic colleagues across Google, we have an opportunity to build AI and ultimately AGI to benefit humanity. Looking forward to working with @JeffDean in his new role as Google's Chief Scientist. And excited for what we create next at Google DeepMind!
I just hope this doesn't mean that @GoogleAI goes further down the “AGI” rabbit hole which has so, so, so many problems (that it is not a thing, that it has a really awful and exclusionary and eugenicist history, that it is not a reasonable target for system design, and so on) ht…
BIG NEWS: @DeepMind and @Google Brain just merged! The cumulative research output of these 2 orgs over the past decade shadows that of any other organization in the world. Closely watching the future output from Google :)) 🍿 https://twitter.com/...
Truly excited by the merger of Brain and DeepMind to form a new unit: Google DeepMind! Both organizations have a proud track record of AI breakthroughs. We are now combining our talent and resources to create further advances in AI research and AI products. https://twitter.com/..…
@SynthesisAI_ @DeepMind DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will lead the new group, while former AI lead Jeff Dean will take on the chief scientist role. This is a huge development in the world of AI. Bringing together top AI talent is crucial for accelerating progress. https://twitter.…
Up to now, Google has not shown a unique point of view on evolution of AI. More pointedly, the company has mostly expressed concerns about the technology. Microsoft is at the other extreme with AI as a feature of every existing product—two sides of incumbent disruption.
You can tell Google has lost its edge because instead of vocally noting that Microsoft adding a chatbot that lies to search is the desperate flex of a second place contender, & does harm to people seeking real info, they gagged & blindly followed the frame set by Microsoft.
Google is merging its two AI research units into something called “Google DeepMind” led by DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis https://www.wsj.com/...
This is a big development. It sounds very techy, but Google has just merged its two Artificial Intelligence research units into one...based in the UK. There is going to be lots of competition and a long way to go, but this is a significant step. https://www.wsj.com/...
New “Google DeepMind” now in charge of unified AI work, led by Demis Hassabis. Jeff Dean, who'd led the other Google Research effort (and was involved with Timnit Gebru fiasco), gets a lateral move to chief scientist reporting to @sundarpichai. https://blog.google/...
This new unit will be led by @DemisHassabis and bring together our talent, infrastructure and resources to create the next generation of AI breakthroughs and products. ↓ https://twitter.com/...
Looking forward to working with many brilliant research colleagues from across the @DeepMind & @Google Research Brain. Excited to join forces to accelerate progress towards a world where #AI helps solve humanity's biggest challenges https://www.deepmind.com/... https://twitter.co…
Google just announced it's merging its top two AI research labs: London-based DeepMind, which it acquired in 2014, and Mountain View-based Google Brain. The merged team will be called Google DeepMind and be led by DeepMind CEO @demishassabis. https://blog.google/...
Google Brain and DeepMind just merged to form one team. AI research can no longer be random acts of papers. Pooling talent and resources together is the best way of making impact now. Excited to see what's next. https://www.deepmind.com/...