DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is stepping down from day-to-day leadership to take an oversight role at Alphabet, continuing a pattern of senior departures from Google's AI division. Hassabis cited his lifelong focus on achieving artificial general intelligence and stated he believes AGI is now within reach. The shift marks a significant restructuring at Google's flagship AI research unit as the company navigates its position in the competitive generative AI landscape.
Google will shut down Assistant on Android phones starting September 4, forcing users to switch to Gemini. The retirement was originally planned for late 2025 but moved earlier as Gemini matured. The change will also affect Assistant on connected devices like smartwatches, headphones, and Android Auto vehicles.
Google announced leadership restructuring at DeepMind, moving founder Demis Hassabis to chair and chief scientist role while Koray Kavukcuoglu, formerly CTO, becomes senior vice president overseeing day-to-day operations. Hassabis will retain leadership of Isomorphic Labs, Google's AI drug discovery subsidiary. The shift concentrates strategic AI governance under Alphabet while giving Kavukcuoglu operational control of DeepMind's research efforts.
Google announced it will disable access to Google Assistant on Android phones, tablets, and paired devices like smartwatches on September 4th, removing the older virtual assistant as Gemini takes over. The shutdown applies to both phones and connected devices starting from 4 September. Users will need to transition to Gemini or alternative voice assistants for voice commands and tasks previously handled by Assistant.
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