# Top Google AI researchers including Jeff Dean launch Discovery Loop for automated science

> Some of the most decorated names in modern machine learning are reportedly leaving Google to start their own company. Jeff Dean, employee number 30 who built much of Google's search infrastructure and helped steer Gemini, is said to be joining Sanjay Ghemawat, Quoc Le, and Oriol Vinyals to found Discovery Loop, a startup aimed at using AI to automate the scientific method itself. The pitch is to compress the research cycle. Rather than a human proposing one hypothesis and waiting weeks for results, Discovery Loop wants to run thousands of experiments in parallel, letting algorithms generate, test, and refine ideas at machine speed. It is being set up as a public benefit corporation, with a seed round led by Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures and, notably, participation from Alphabet itself. If the roster holds up, this is a striking vote of confidence that the next big returns come not from bigger chatbots but from AI as a tireless lab partner. It is also a reminder that even the most prestigious research home can lose its stars when they smell a bigger swing.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Thursday, August 13, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Some of the most decorated names in modern machine learning are reportedly leaving Google to start their own company. Jeff Dean, employee number 30 who built much of Google's search infrastructure and helped steer Gemini, is said to be joining Sanjay Ghemawat, Quoc Le, and Oriol Vinyals to found Discovery Loop, a startup aimed at using AI to automate the scientific method itself. The pitch is to compress the research cycle. Rather than a human proposing one hypothesis and waiting weeks for results, Discovery Loop wants to run thousands of experiments in parallel, letting algorithms generate, test, and refine ideas at machine speed. It is being set up as a public benefit corporation, with a seed round led by Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures and, notably, participation from Alphabet itself. If the roster holds up, this is a striking vote of confidence that the next big returns come not from bigger chatbots but from AI as a tireless lab partner. It is also a reminder that even the most prestigious research home can lose its stars when they smell a bigger swing.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/05/jeff-dean-and-other-top-ai-researchers-are-leaving-google-to-launch-their-own-startup/)

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