Deepmind was built to chase AGI, but its new chief just wants Gemini 4 out the door
DeepMind's new leader just called the AGI question 'not the right conversation'—and it shows.
Why it matters
Google DeepMind is pivoting from pure research toward product velocity under new leadership. Koray Kavukcuoglu's shift in strategy—prioritizing Gemini 4 release speed and agent trustworthiness over foundational AGI ambitions—signals a fundamental recalibration of the lab's mission and reflects broader talent and organizational pressures.
The key facts
6 to knowKoray Kavukcuoglu (new chief) targeting Gemini 4 release 'much earlier' than end of year
Gemini 4 already in post-training, running internally in Antigravity coding tool
Kavukcuoglu dismisses AGI framing as 'not the right conversation'; prioritizes 'trustworthy agents'
Gemini 3.5 Pro quietly discontinued
Significant researcher departures to OpenAI and Anthropic
DeepMind repositioning from AGI-focused research lab to product-focused organization
The story so far
Earlier coverage of this storyline
- Gemini 4 is almost ready, says new Google DeepMind chiefThe Verge AI
- This story
Go to the source
The Decoderthe-decoder.com
Publisher excerpt: Google Deepmind chief Koray Kavukcuoglu wants to release Gemini 4 "much earlier" than the end of the year. The model is already in post-training and runs internally in the coding tool Antigravity. He calls the AGI question that drove his predecessor Hassabis "not the right conversation" and says…