Google Announces Launch of Google DeepMind to Accelerate Progress in AI

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has unveiled Google DeepMind, a new group focused on advancing artificial intelligence (AI).

The group brings together the existing DeepMind and Brain teams under one banner to work on building more capable and responsible general AI systems.

According to Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the move will significantly accelerate progress in AI and ensure its bold and responsible development.

The new group will be led by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis as CEO, while Jeff Dean, co-founder of Brain, will serve as Google and Google DeepMind’s chief scientist.

Dean’s first project will be to develop a series of powerful, multimodal AI models, while Hassabis will lead the development of the most capable and responsible general AI systems.

DeepMind, which was founded in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014, has achieved research advances in projects such as AlphaGo and AlphaFold.

Brain, founded in 2011 under the Google X R&D program, has contributed to projects such as Google Translate and TensorFlow.

Google’s investment in AI technology is substantial, with billions being poured into its development. In February 2023, the company partnered with Anthropic to develop reliable and responsible AI, and launched Google Bard, a conversational AI service, in the same month. The product, however, has met with mixed reviews.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai remains optimistic about the development of AI technology, stating that compared to any other technology, he has seen more people worried about its implications earlier in its lifecycle, leading to more serious conversations around the topic. With the launch of Google DeepMind, the company is poised to make even greater strides in the field of AI.