Google announces major leadership restructuring in artificial intelligence division

On August 5, 2026, Alphabet announced a major restructuring of its artificial intelligence operations. Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, is stepping down from day-to-day management to become the division's President, while simultaneously assuming the role of Chief Scientist for Alphabet. He will also maintain his leadership position at Isomorphic Labs. Koray Kavukcuoglu, currently the Chief Technology Officer of Google DeepMind, will succeed him as Senior Vice President under the supervision of Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

The reorganization coincides with the departure of several key executives, including lead scientist Jeff Dean and senior expert Sanjay Ghemawat, who are reportedly leaving to form a new company. These changes occur amidst significant pressure on the company, as the highly anticipated flagship version of the Gemini AI model has missed its June release target. Investors have expressed concerns that Google is losing ground to competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which have successfully recruited top talent from the company this summer. Following the announcement, Alphabet shares declined by 4%.