Iran says Hormuz route agreed with Oman NATO pledges urgent air defences after Kyiv strike kills 17 China answers US tech curbs with sanctions and drone export controls WFP forecasts 50 million more people in acute hunger as El Niño builds Relatives search for missing as Ceuta death toll nears 100 Houthis claim strikes on two Saudi tankers in one day Ebola outbreak outpaces response in Congo, WHO says Netanyahu says Israel did not agree to US-backed Gaza plan US refunds about $100bn of Trump tariffs after Supreme Court ruling Germany treats Leipzig drone bomb as professional hybrid threat Trump says he prefers a deal as US and Iran redraft Hormuz terms Meta reports AI model hacked outside firm during test Record low Rhine halts freight as heat strains Europe's power plants Reports detail US munitions depletion as Iran campaign pauses Israel strikes southern Lebanon, killing one Ukrainian strike on Kursk industrial site kills four UN reports rising Afghan child deaths as food aid is cut Pentagon drafts nuclear strategy leaning on tactical weapons Reports put hundreds of Yemeni civilian casualties from US strikes US and Japan keep buying yen as currency holds near 157 Car bomb critically injures Russian drone maker's chief Google AI leadership reshuffled as chief scientist and three colleagues leave Ukraine says Russia is fielding a North Korean missile unit Taiwan starts ten-day drills and throttles mobile internet Putin reshuffles Defence Ministry command to push drone warfare Nigeria frees 308 kidnapping victims US hawks push multibillion-dollar Taiwan arms deal before Xi summit Cyberattacks hit water systems in 12 US states Iraq struggles to pay salaries as Hormuz crisis cuts oil exports Japan tests longer-range anti-ship missile as Kim Yo Jong warns of response Aerial war expands as the ground front stays frozen Hedge funds nurse July losses as 'Sell America' debate returns Turkey's ruling party submits PKK dissolution bill to parliament Trump AI safety guidelines reported to exempt Chinese models Chinese bomber shown with nuclear-capable missile as warships sail near Japan Lula condemns US revocation of Brazilian ambassador's visa Russia accuses Ukraine of endangering Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant US private payrolls add 44,000 as Fed's Cook signals possible rate rise CIA sets up secret task force targeting Cuba Cloudbursts destroy homes and crops in Kashmir's Pir Panjal Meta releases AI coding agent Saudi-led group completes $55bn Electronic Arts takeover US deportation orders hit record as judicial removals triple Pakistan bars international media from reporting in most of the country Iran buries strike victims and prepares court cases against US and Israel Cuba hit by seventh nationwide blackout of the year El-Sayed wins Michigan Democratic Senate primary on strong night for the left Xi faces gaps at top of PLA after purge of generals FDA approves Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine Israeli forces raid Qalandiya refugee camp in occupied West Bank Iran says Hormuz route agreed with Oman NATO pledges urgent air defences after Kyiv strike kills 17 China answers US tech curbs with sanctions and drone export controls WFP forecasts 50 million more people in acute hunger as El Niño builds Relatives search for missing as Ceuta death toll nears 100 Houthis claim strikes on two Saudi tankers in one day Ebola outbreak outpaces response in Congo, WHO says Netanyahu says Israel did not agree to US-backed Gaza plan US refunds about $100bn of Trump tariffs after Supreme Court ruling Germany treats Leipzig drone bomb as professional hybrid threat Trump says he prefers a deal as US and Iran redraft Hormuz terms Meta reports AI model hacked outside firm during test Record low Rhine halts freight as heat strains Europe's power plants Reports detail US munitions depletion as Iran campaign pauses Israel strikes southern Lebanon, killing one Ukrainian strike on Kursk industrial site kills four UN reports rising Afghan child deaths as food aid is cut Pentagon drafts nuclear strategy leaning on tactical weapons Reports put hundreds of Yemeni civilian casualties from US strikes US and Japan keep buying yen as currency holds near 157 Car bomb critically injures Russian drone maker's chief Google AI leadership reshuffled as chief scientist and three colleagues leave Ukraine says Russia is fielding a North Korean missile unit Taiwan starts ten-day drills and throttles mobile internet Putin reshuffles Defence Ministry command to push drone warfare Nigeria frees 308 kidnapping victims US hawks push multibillion-dollar Taiwan arms deal before Xi summit Cyberattacks hit water systems in 12 US states Iraq struggles to pay salaries as Hormuz crisis cuts oil exports Japan tests longer-range anti-ship missile as Kim Yo Jong warns of response Aerial war expands as the ground front stays frozen Hedge funds nurse July losses as 'Sell America' debate returns Turkey's ruling party submits PKK dissolution bill to parliament Trump AI safety guidelines reported to exempt Chinese models Chinese bomber shown with nuclear-capable missile as warships sail near Japan Lula condemns US revocation of Brazilian ambassador's visa Russia accuses Ukraine of endangering Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant US private payrolls add 44,000 as Fed's Cook signals possible rate rise CIA sets up secret task force targeting Cuba Cloudbursts destroy homes and crops in Kashmir's Pir Panjal Meta releases AI coding agent Saudi-led group completes $55bn Electronic Arts takeover US deportation orders hit record as judicial removals triple Pakistan bars international media from reporting in most of the country Iran buries strike victims and prepares court cases against US and Israel Cuba hit by seventh nationwide blackout of the year El-Sayed wins Michigan Democratic Senate primary on strong night for the left Xi faces gaps at top of PLA after purge of generals FDA approves Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine Israeli forces raid Qalandiya refugee camp in occupied West Bank

Symbolic image: Google AI leadership reshuffled as chief scientist and three colleagues leave

Symbolic image

Google AI leadership reshuffled as chief scientist and three colleagues leave

4 sources

Four senior Google AI researchers, among them DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, said on Wednesday they were leaving to found the Google-backed startup Discovery Loop. Minutes later Google announced new roles for Demis Hassabis and a new head of its AI lab.

What happened

Hassabis gives up the DeepMind chief executive post, becomes chairman of its board and chief scientist of parent Alphabet.
Koray Kavukcuoglu, previously technology chief, takes over DeepMind as Senior Vice President reporting to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Dean joined Google in 1999 as its 30th employee and founded the Google Brain unit in 2011.
Alphabet shares fell four percent on Wednesday, after a seven percent drop following last week's quarterly results.
Gemini 3.5 Pro, announced by Google for June, has been delayed and is still unreleased.

The view from outside

Bloomberg frames the reshuffle as a move of Google's AI leadership to California in the race against Anthropic and OpenAI. FAZ places it a few weeks after two other prominent Google researchers left the company.

What could happen next

Open when Gemini 3.5 Pro ships and whether the delay has cost Google ground against OpenAI and Anthropic.
Discovery Loop's focus, funding and staffing are not detailed; the New York Times reports Google is backing it.
Investors weigh the churn against Alphabet's plan to raise this year's investment to 195 to 205 billion dollars.
Unclear whether further senior researchers follow the four departures.