Google AI Shakeup: Dean Out, Hassabis Steps Back

Google is restructuring its senior AI leadership, with Chief Scientist Jeff Dean departing after 27 years to launch a new startup called Discovery Loop, focused on AI for science and engineering. Demis Hassabis is stepping back from day-to-day operations at Google DeepMind to become chairman and Alphabet's new Chief Scientist. CTO Koray Kavukcuoglu will now lead Google DeepMind, reporting directly to CEO Sundar Pichai. The announcement caused Alphabet stock to drop over 4%, coming as Google faces intense competition from Anthropic, OpenAI, and others in the AI race.