Archive · 7 Aug 2026
Jeff Dean leaves Google to launch AI startup Discovery Loop
Jeff Dean is a very smart computer scientist who worked at Google for 27 years.
He helped build some of the most important tools that make the internet work, like MapReduce and Google Brain.
Now he is leaving Google to start a brand-new company called Discovery Loop with his longtime friend Sanjay Ghemawat and other smart scientists.
The new company wants to build computers that help scientists make discoveries faster in science and engineering.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, will still help the new company with money and cloud services.
Another smart scientist, Demis Hassabis, who was the boss of Google's big AI lab, is also changing jobs.
He will become the chief scientist for Alphabet so he can focus on big ideas, like building machines that are as smart as people.
A scientist named Koray Kavukcuoglu will take over running the AI lab.
Google is making these changes because other companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are also trying to build very smart computers, and Google wants to stay ahead.
Jeff Dean, Google's Chief Scientist and one of its only two Senior Fellows, is leaving after 27 years to co-found Discovery Loop, an AI research public benefit corporation, with fellow Senior Fellow Sanjay Ghemawat.
Demis Hassabis is stepping down as Google DeepMind CEO to become Alphabet's Chief Scientist and Chair of Google DeepMind while continuing to lead Isomorphic Labs.
Koray Kavukcuoglu takes over DeepMind leadership: one report says he becomes CEO reporting to Sundar Pichai, another says he is promoted to SVP of the AI division.
Discovery Loop is co-founded with Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le, with Alphabet as a founding investor and cloud partner, joined by Khosla Ventures, Radical Ventures and other Silicon Valley investors.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly tried to persuade the founders to stay, and the shake-up comes as Google faces mounting pressure from AI rivals OpenAI and Anthropic.
- Who
- Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat, Google's only two Senior Fellows, leaving with Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le to found Discovery Loop; Demis Hassabis and Koray Kavukcuoglu taking new roles at Alphabet and Google DeepMind; and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
- What
- A major Google AI leadership shake-up in which Dean and Ghemawat depart after 27 years to launch AI research startup Discovery Loop, Hassabis becomes Alphabet's Chief Scientist and Chair of Google DeepMind, and Kavukcuoglu takes over DeepMind leadership.
- When
- Announced on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
- Where
- Google and parent company Alphabet; the departing researchers are launching Discovery Loop as an independent public benefit corporation.
- Why
- Dean and Ghemawat wanted to build an independent company to accelerate discoveries in machine learning, science and engineering; Hassabis is shifting to long-term research and AGI; Google faces mounting pressure from AI rivals OpenAI and Anthropic.
- New startup
- Discovery Loop - a public benefit corporation
- Startup's mission
- Accelerating discoveries in machine learning, science and engineering
- Co-founders
- Jeff Dean, Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals, Quoc Le
- Alphabet's role
- Founding investor and Cloud partner
- Other investors
- Khosla Ventures and Radical Ventures, among other Silicon Valley investors
- Jeff Dean's tenure
- 27 years; joined Google in 1999 (one source says ~25 employees, another says he was the 30th employee)
- Hassabis's new role
- Alphabet Chief Scientist, Chair of Google DeepMind, and head of Isomorphic Labs
- New DeepMind leader
- Koray Kavukcuoglu (reported as CEO by one source; SVP of the AI division by another)
Sources
DeepMind leads Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat powered Google for nearly 30 years, they are now quitting it
Google AI shake-up: Jeff Dean leaves Google after 27 years to launch AI startup with top researchers