Alphabet Inc.¡¯s Google is losing some of its most prominent artificial intelligence veterans in a seismic overhaul that is casting doubt over leadership in a critical area of growth right as competition intensifies. Alphabet shares fell 4% on the news.
Jeff Dean, a longtime Google employee central to the development of the company¡¯s AI strategy, is departing to launch a startup, taking several high-profile colleagues with him. Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind, is moving into a chairman role at the lab.
In the new structure, Hassabis will assume the dual titles of chairman of Google DeepMind and chief scientist of Alphabet. He is handing over operational control of the lab to Koray Kavukcuoglu, a longtime deputy, who has been promoted to senior vice president of Google DeepMind and will report to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the company announced Wednesday in a blog post.
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