# Google DeepMind undergoes major leadership reshuffling

> Google is reorganizing its AI operation in its most sweeping shakeup since the 2023 merger that created Google DeepMind. Demis Hassabis is stepping back from the CEO role to become chairman and Alphabet's chief scientist, where he will concentrate on long-range AGI strategy. Koray Kavukcuoglu, DeepMind's CTO, moves up to senior vice president and takes over day-to-day control of the Gemini effort. The bigger surprise is the exit of Jeff Dean, a 27-year Google veteran who helped define much of the company's modern infrastructure. He is leaving to co-found a new venture called Discovery Loop alongside Oriol Vinyals, Quoc Le, and Sanjay Ghemawat. The timing is pointed. The reshuffle lands while Gemini 3.5 Pro has slipped and as rival labs keep poaching senior researchers. How Google steadies its research culture through this transition, and whether Kavukcuoglu can ship a competitive Gemini, will shape the next stretch of the model race.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Fortune · Published Wednesday, August 12, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Google is reorganizing its AI operation in its most sweeping shakeup since the 2023 merger that created Google DeepMind. Demis Hassabis is stepping back from the CEO role to become chairman and Alphabet's chief scientist, where he will concentrate on long-range AGI strategy. Koray Kavukcuoglu, DeepMind's CTO, moves up to senior vice president and takes over day-to-day control of the Gemini effort. The bigger surprise is the exit of Jeff Dean, a 27-year Google veteran who helped define much of the company's modern infrastructure. He is leaving to co-found a new venture called Discovery Loop alongside Oriol Vinyals, Quoc Le, and Sanjay Ghemawat. The timing is pointed. The reshuffle lands while Gemini 3.5 Pro has slipped and as rival labs keep poaching senior researchers. How Google steadies its research culture through this transition, and whether Kavukcuoglu can ship a competitive Gemini, will shape the next stretch of the model race.

## Source

[Read the full story at Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/08/05/demis-hassabis-steps-down-google-deepmind-ai-shakeup/)

## Related coverage

- [Hike Medical Raises $22.5 Million Across Seed and Series A Funding](https://www.wortins.com/story/hike-medical-raises-22-5-million-across-seed-and-series-a-fu-111e6a0a) — [TechStartups](https://techstartups.com/2026/08/26/startup-funding-news-today-august-26-2026-emerald-ai-gatik-stellaria-more/)
- [SoftBank Plans Record $6.3 Billion Retail Bond Sale to Fund OpenAI Investment](https://www.wortins.com/story/softbank-plans-record-6-3-billion-retail-bond-sale-to-fund-o-dbc93b82) — [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-08-20/bloomberg-tech-8-20-2026-video)
- [Checking In on AI and the Big Five](https://www.wortins.com/story/checking-in-on-ai-and-the-big-five-8f54332c) — [Stratechery](https://stratechery.com/2025/checking-in-on-ai-and-the-big-five/)
- [Anthropic Adds Claude Mythos 5 to Claude Security for Vulnerability Scanning](https://www.wortins.com/story/anthropic-adds-claude-mythos-5-to-claude-security-for-vulner-34ff7302) — [Anthropic](https://claude.com/blog/bringing-claude-mythos-5-to-more-defenders)
- [Emerald AI Raises $150 Million Series A at $1.05 Billion Valuation](https://www.wortins.com/story/emerald-ai-raises-150-million-series-a-at-1-05-billion-valua-2071899e) — [Business Wire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260825127649/en/Emerald-AI-Raises-$150-Million-Series-A-at-$1.05-Billion-Valuation-to-Scale-Power-Flexible-AI-Data-Centers)
- [EU AI Act High-Risk Compliance Deadline Pushed to December 2, 2027](https://www.wortins.com/story/eu-ai-act-high-risk-compliance-deadline-pushed-to-december-2-309a6aa4) — [Cloud Security Alliance](https://labs.cloudsecurityalliance.org/research/csa-research-note-eu-ai-act-omnibus-vii-deadline-delay-20260/)

---

_Curated and written by [Wortins](https://www.wortins.com) — The daily AI briefing. Every story links to its original source; the "Wortins read" on each is our own original analysis. [About Wortins & our editorial approach](https://www.wortins.com/about)._