{"id":18947,"date":"2026-08-06T02:50:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/greek-cypriot-nobel-laureate-sir-demis-hassabis-appointed-to-lead-googles-ai-division-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T02:50:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:50:31","slug":"greek-cypriot-nobel-laureate-sir-demis-hassabis-appointed-to-lead-googles-ai-division-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/greek-cypriot-nobel-laureate-sir-demis-hassabis-appointed-to-lead-googles-ai-division-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Greek Cypriot Nobel laureate Sir Demis Hassabis appointed to lead Google’s AI division \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Greek Cypriot artificial intelligence pioneer Sir Demis Hassabis<\/strong> has been appointed President and Chief Scientific Officer of Google DeepMind, placing him at the forefront of the technology giant\u2019s global AI strategy.<\/h3>\n

The appointment comes as Google seeks to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive artificial intelligence sector, with Hassabis taking responsibility for leading the company\u2019s scientific vision and future AI innovations.<\/p>\n

Hassabis, who co-founded DeepMind<\/strong> in 2010, is widely regarded as one of the world\u2019s leading AI researchers. Google acquired the London-based company in 2014 for approximately US$6<\/strong>50 million<\/strong>, retaining Hassabis to oversee its groundbreaking research.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been working towards AGI my whole life, and as we enter this pivotal moment, I\u2019m stepping into a new role as Chair of Google DeepMind & Chief Scientist of Alphabet. This will allow me to focus on long-term strategy, and accelerating scientific breakthroughs, including\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

His promotion follows a series of major advances in artificial intelligence, including the development of AlphaFold2, an AI system capable of accurately predicting the three-dimensional structure of proteins. The breakthrough transformed biological research and earned Hassabis and fellow researcher John Jumper the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Today, AlphaFold is used by more than two million scientists in over 190 countries, accelerating research into diseases, drug development and biotechnology.<\/p>\n

Born in London in 1976, Hassabis is the son of a Greek Cypriot father from Famagusta and a Singaporean mother. Originally named Demosthenes Hasapis, he showed exceptional talent from an early age, becoming a chess prodigy before moving into computer programming.<\/p>\n

At just 17, he designed the bestselling video game Theme Park, before studying computer science at the University of Cambridge and later earning a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience.<\/p>\n

He founded DeepMind with the goal of developing artificial general intelligence capable of solving some of humanity\u2019s most complex scientific challenges. The company gained worldwide recognition after its AI program AlphaGo defeated world champions in the ancient strategy game Go, demonstrating capabilities previously thought to be decades away.<\/p>\n

As Google\u2019s new AI chief, Hassabis will lead research across Google DeepMind as the company competes with rivals including OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta in the race to develop increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems.<\/p>\n

Despite his global profile and success, Hassabis has remained based in London, where he continues to lead one of the world\u2019s most influential AI research organisations.<\/p>\n

His appointment marks another milestone for one of the most accomplished figures in artificial intelligence and represents a proud moment for the Greek Cypriot community, with one of its own now leading Google\u2019s scientific ambitions in one of the world\u2019s fastest-growing technologies.<\/p>\n