Google AI veterans depart during seismic leadership shift

Demis Hassabis, chief executive officer of Google DeepMind, attends a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony in Seoul on April 27. Alphabet Inc.'s Google is losing some of its most prominent artificial intelligence veterans in a seismic overhaul that is casting doubt over leadership in a critical area of growth right as competition intensifies. Alphabet shares fell 4% on the news. Jeff Dean, a longtime Google employee central to the development of the company's AI strategy, is departing to launch a startup, taking several high-profile colleagues with him. Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind, is moving into a chairman role at the lab.