00:00Demis Hassabis has made an unexpected exit as the CEO of Google DeepMind.
00:04But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
00:07In early August, Google CEO and Demis Hassabis sent out a joint memo to staffers.
00:12The pair announced that Hassabis was stepping down as CEO of Google DeepMind and into a chair role.
00:17Minutes later, staffers found out that Jeff Dean, chief scientist of Google DeepMind, was also leaving the company.
00:23There was a very mixed and shocked reaction to Hassabis' exit.
00:27What did this mean for Google DeepMind's future?
00:29What did this mean for Google DeepMind's London presence?
00:32And was this a demotion or a promotion for Hassabis?
00:35Workers told me that a combination of missed deadlines, a controversial deal with the Pentagon,
00:40and a talent exodus of staff hopping to AI labs like Anthropic and OpenAI have led to a difficult year
00:47for the company.
00:48It's difficult for workers who feel like they're playing catch-up for the second time in four years.
00:52Google famously declared a code red when OpenAI released its flagship ChatGPT.
00:57The company felt behind and raced to catch up.
01:00Now, for the second time in four years, it's happening again.
01:03Engineers say that the company failed to prioritize things like coding and agentic capabilities.
01:09This has led to a lot of staff burnout, long hours, and low morale.
01:14While Google has advantages that few of its rivals can match,
01:17these issues have led some insiders to question its future standing in the AI race.
01:21For more on DeepMind's future, you can check out my full article on fortune.com.
Comments