Reuters独家报道，过去几个月，Google的AI部门经历了剧烈动荡，剧情有三条主线：联合创始人Brin亲自介入模型训练、深度学习之父Hassabis被架空、两位Gemini创始技术负责人离职创业。这场权力重构，反映出DeepMind自2014年被收购以来，自主权持续被侵蚀的现实。
Brin重返一线，Hassabis退居主席
This April, Brin convened hundreds of DeepMind employees in an all-hands meeting, stating that Gemini's priority was not high enough and it needed to accelerate. Although he did not hold an official position, he unofficially directed the training direction, especially pushing for "recursive self-improvement" — allowing AI to self-optimize without human intervention. This led to the next-generation Gemini flagship being delayed by two months due to lagging in key areas such as coding.
On August 5, DeepMind announced that Kavukcuoglu would replace Hassabis as the head, with the latter moving to the position of chairman and significantly reducing his management responsibilities. Kavukcuoglu has now accumulated power under Brin's support, relocating from London to Mountain View, reporting directly to Pichai, and becoming the core bridge between DeepMind and Google Cloud.
The turmoil also involved talent clearance. The original technical co-leaders of Gemini, Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals, left to start an AI company focused on scientific discovery, Discovery Loop, increasing employees' anxiety about the "last defense of the laboratory against commercial encroachment being broken." On the day the news was released, Google's stock price dropped 4%, while structural challenges such as computing power limitations, leadership disagreements, and bureaucratic infighting still left the future of Google AI in question.
