Demis Hassabis

Accomplishments

• Co-founded DeepMind in 2010 to build general AI systems through an interdisciplinary approach.¹²
• Led the team behind AlphaGo, the first program to beat a world champion at the game of Go.⁹¹⁰³
• Led AlphaFold from its inception in 2016; CASP's organizers recognized AlphaFold as a solution to the 50-year grand challenge of protein structure prediction.³¹¹¹²
• Helped make over 200 million predicted protein structures freely available through the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, built with EMBL-EBI.¹²³
• Shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with John Jumper for protein structure prediction.⁴
• Founded Isomorphic Labs in 2021 to reimagine drug discovery with an AI-first approach.⁶⁸
• Led Google DeepMind from its formation in 2023 and introduced the Gemini models.¹³¹⁴
• Honored with the Lasker, Canada Gairdner, Breakthrough, and Princess of Asturias awards, and knighted in 2024 for services to artificial intelligence.^1511161718

A prodigy of games and code

Hassabis showed a gift for games and programming from childhood. The Royal Society describes Hassabis as a child chess prodigy and a five-time World Games Champion, and at age 17 Hassabis coded the classic AI simulation game Theme Park.⁹³

From Cambridge to neuroscience

Hassabis matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1994 to read computer science, and graduated with a double first. Hassabis also founded the videogame company Elixir Studios.²³⁹

At University College London, Hassabis went on to complete a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, researching the processes behind memory and imagination. The journal Science listed that research on imagination and memory among its top ten breakthroughs of 2007.³⁹

Founding DeepMind and mastering Go

In 2010 Hassabis co-founded DeepMind, a neuroscience-inspired AI company that took an interdisciplinary approach to building general AI systems. Google acquired DeepMind in January 2014.¹²¹⁹

DeepMind's AlphaGo became the first program to beat a world champion at Go. In October 2015 it won the first ever match between an AI system and a Go professional, 5-0 against Fan Hui, and in March 2016 it defeated Lee Sedol 4-1 in Seoul, South Korea. Its creative Move 37 in game two upended centuries of traditional Go thinking and showed that AI systems can learn to solve challenging problems in highly complex domains.¹⁰⁹

Solving the protein structure problem

Hassabis led the AlphaFold project from its inception in 2016. In November 2020 AlphaFold 2 won the CASP14 competition, whose organisers recognized it as a solution to the 50-year-old protein folding problem. In July 2021 DeepMind and EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute launched the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database with free, open access, and by July 2022 it had expanded to over 200 million structures, covering nearly every catalogued protein known to science.³¹²

To carry that work into medicine, Hassabis founded Isomorphic Labs in 2021 as a new Alphabet company with a mission to reimagine the entire drug discovery process from first principles with an AI-first approach. In May 2024 Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs introduced AlphaFold 3, which predicts the structure and interactions of all of life's molecules.⁶¹²

In October 2024 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly to Hassabis and John Jumper "for protein structure prediction," noting that AlphaFold2 has been used to predict the structure of virtually all the proteins researchers have identified.⁴

Leading Google DeepMind into the Gemini era

In April 2023 Google brought together the Brain team and DeepMind as Google DeepMind, led by Hassabis as CEO, with a mission to build AI responsibly to benefit humanity. That December, Hassabis introduced Gemini on behalf of the Gemini team, the first models of a new generation of Google AI.¹³¹¹⁴

In March 2026 Hassabis announced Platform 37, Google's new London building at King's Cross, named in honor of AlphaGo's famous Move 37 and home to The AI Exchange, a free public space for learning about AI.⁷

Vision and recent work

In 2026 Hassabis stepped into a new strategic role as Chair of Google DeepMind and Chief Scientist of Alphabet, handing over day-to-day operational responsibilities at Google DeepMind to focus on the big picture and on actively shaping the future of AGI, while continuing to lead Isomorphic Labs, a role Hassabis plans to lean into. Announcing the change, Sundar Pichai wrote, "I can't imagine a better person than Demis to do it."⁵

Hassabis was knighted in 2024 for services to artificial intelligence, and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Academy of Engineering.¹⁸⁹

Timeline

1. 1994Matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge, to read computer science.²
2. 2007Science listed Hassabis's research on imagination and memory among its top ten breakthroughs of the year.⁹
3. 2010Co-founded DeepMind.¹²
4. Jan 2014Google acquired DeepMind.¹⁹
5. Oct 2015AlphaGo won the first ever match between an AI system and a Go professional, 5-0.¹⁰
6. 2016Began leading the AlphaFold project from its inception.³
7. Mar 2016AlphaGo defeated Lee Sedol 4-1 in Seoul, South Korea.¹⁰
8. 2018Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.⁹
9. Nov 2020AlphaFold 2 won CASP14 and was recognized as a solution to the protein folding problem.¹²
10. Jul 2021Launched the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database with EMBL-EBI, free and open to all.¹²
11. Nov 2021Introduced Isomorphic Labs, a new Alphabet company for AI-first drug discovery.⁶
12. 2022Received the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.¹⁷
13. Jul 2022The AlphaFold Protein Structure Database expanded to over 200 million structures.¹²
14. Sep 22, 2022Named a winner of the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences with John Jumper.¹⁶
15. 2023Received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the Canada Gairdner International Award.¹⁵¹¹
16. Apr 20, 2023Became CEO of the newly combined Google DeepMind.¹³
17. Dec 6, 2023Introduced Gemini on behalf of the Gemini team.¹⁴
18. Mar 28, 2024Knighted for services to artificial intelligence.¹⁸
19. May 2024Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs introduced AlphaFold 3.¹²
20. Oct 9, 2024Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with John Jumper for protein structure prediction.⁴
21. 2026Became Chair of Google DeepMind and Chief Scientist of Alphabet.⁵⁷

Other documented roles

Roles the sources document that are not confirmed as current.

• Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Google DeepMind (2023 – 2026)¹³⁷⁵
• Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, DeepMind (2010 – 2023)¹²¹⁹¹³
• Founder, Elixir Studios⁹²

Honors and recognition

• Nobel Prize in Chemistry (shared with John Jumper and David Baker) · Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2024⁴
• Knight Bachelor, for services to Artificial Intelligence · The Crown (published in The London Gazette), 2024¹⁸
• Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award · Lasker Foundation, 2023¹⁵
• Canada Gairdner International Award · Gairdner Foundation, 2023¹¹³
• Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences · Breakthrough Prize Foundation, 2023¹⁶
• Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research · Princess of Asturias Foundation, 2022¹⁷
• Dan David Prize Future Award · Dan David Prize, 2020⁹
• Fellow of the Royal Society · The Royal Society, 2018⁹
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) · The Crown, 2018⁹
• Royal Society Mullard Award · The Royal Society⁹
• Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering · Royal Academy of Engineering⁹¹⁸
• Honorary Fellow, Queens' College, Cambridge · Queens' College, University of Cambridge²

Where they work

• Google DeepMind 64 people in the wiki
• Google 121 people in the wiki
• Isomorphic Labs 1 person in the wiki

Related people

• Thibault SottiauxAlso at Google DeepMind
• Koray KavukcuogluAlso at Google DeepMind
• Hado van HasseltAlso at Google DeepMind
• Ian GoodfellowAlso at Google DeepMind
• Arthur MenschAlso at Google DeepMind
• Dario AmodeiBig SI
• Greg BrockmanBig SI
• Satya NadellaBig SI