Aug. 13 at 10:48 AM
$GOOG $GOOGL DeepMind's Hassabis pitched AI oversight entity before shake up, WSJ reports
Alphabet chief scientist Demis Hassabis discussed forming an independent AI safety entity before stepping down as Google DeepMind CEO, The Wall Street Journal's Robbie Whelan, Amrith Ramkumar, and Keach Hagey report. Hassabis discussed aspects of his plan with Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to people familiar with the matter, who add that Hassabis proposed that the U.S. create an industry-funded standards body to help assess the safety of AI models. A Google spokesperson says the company sees ensuring the safety of advanced AI models as "vitally important to society" and that Hassabis is uniquely positioned to work toward that goal. "Demis chose to step into a new role at Google and is focusing his efforts more strategically on scientific breakthroughs and shaping the future of AGI," the spokesperson adds.
