Management Change at Google DeepMind: Koray Kavukçuoğlu's Role Increased

A major management change has occurred at Google DeepMind. While Demis Hassabis handed over his duties to his deputy Koray Kavukçuoğlu, he was appointed as the chairman of the board of directors. This change marks a reduction in DeepMind's autonomy.

While Koray Kavukçuoğlu is appointed to the new role, he will focus on the integration of the Gemini model into all Google products. In recent weeks, two of Gemini's technical leaders decided to leave the company and form a new venture.

It is stated that these steps of Alphabet are aimed at ensuring DeepMind's model superiority and strengthening its commercialization strategies. While Demis Hassabis has been known to oppose some of Alphabet's business interests in the past and place greater emphasis on its long-term science focus, his allies have denied these allegations.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai appointed Kavukçuoğlu as chief artificial intelligence architect in 2025. Kavukçuoğlu's task was to integrate Gemini into all of the company's products. Sources stated that Kavukçuoğlu received Brin's support.

Following the news of the management change, Google shares lost 4% of their value. Hassabis and Kavukçuoğlu tried to allay the concerns of the employees and said that the daily operation of the laboratory would not change. However, it was also announced that some teams will be removed from DeepMind and connected to the center.