Hi-tech dealing: the connections that led to Google buying DeepMind

There can't be many events where Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European commission, rubs shoulders with Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon, or Google bon vivant Eric Schmidt with the reliably delightful Grayson Perry. For the one percenters who get an invitation to Founders Forum, the event is like the Davos of the tech industry. For an observer, the atmosphere combines the congratulatory backslapping of intense power network with an undercurrent of feisty rivalry. Secrets are told, processes explained, deals done late at night over very expensive drinks. There are modest panel discussions (not everyone goes; the best discussions are alwaysin the corridors, near the bar or clustered under an accommodating willow tree in the grounds), but even these sessions open the kimono a little wider than usual. There have been few recent tech acquisitions more intriguing than that of DeepMind, the British artificial intelligence firm bought by Google for about £400m in January.