Google AI chief revealed as angel investor in 1 top rival

The revelation that Google's top AI executive, Demis Hassabis, personally invested in competitor Anthropic highlights the deeply intertwined and complex relationships dominating the multi-billion dollar artificial intelligence industry.

The investment, previously undisclosed, positions Hassabis as an early backer of a company now seen as a primary challenger to Google's AI dominance, according to a report from the Financial Times. People close to Anthropic said its CEO, Dario Amodei, views Hassabis as a role model.

While Hassabis's personal stake was from an early angel round, Google as a corporate entity has separately invested billions into Anthropic for cloud computing and AI collaboration. This creates a delicate situation where Google is a strategic partner, its AI chief is a personal shareholder, and the two companies are fierce competitors in the market for generative AI models.

This complex web of investments could lead to increased scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest at Google's parent, Alphabet Inc. It also showcases the immense influence of the “DeepMind Mafia,” a network of alumni who have founded over a dozen companies since 2021, raising at least $14 billion in capital and shaping the entire AI sector.

Hassabis's Expanding AI Network

Demis Hassabis's investment portfolio extends beyond just Anthropic, often backing companies founded by his former colleagues from DeepMind. He was also an angel investor in Inflection AI, a startup co-founded by ex-DeepMind researcher Mustafa Suleyman, which was later largely absorbed by Microsoft.

Furthermore, he invested in Ineffable Intelligence, a company started by long-time DeepMind collaborator David Silver. That company, along with Isomorphic Labs—another Hassabis-founded venture focused on drug discovery—has raised over $3 billion in the last month alone. This pattern of investing underscores a strategy of nurturing a powerful ecosystem of talent and capital that radiates from his DeepMind network.

The DeepMind Diaspora Takes Hold

The growing influence of former DeepMind employees is a significant trend in the AI industry. Data from PitchBook and Dealroom shows that since 2021, alumni have established more than a dozen companies, including notable players like France's Mistral AI, legal AI firm Harvey, and AMI Labs. This diaspora is rapidly populating the AI landscape with well-funded and technically proficient startups, many of which now compete with their former employer.

This network effect is also visible within Google itself. DeepMind executives have steadily risen to prominent positions, solidifying the group's influence. Last year, DeepMind's CTO Koray Kavukcuoglu was promoted to Google's chief AI architect. Pushmeet Kohli, who led the Nobel Prize-winning AlphaFold research, was recently named chief scientist at Google Cloud. This internal consolidation, with Hassabis at the helm of a unified AI division, is Google's direct response to the competitive pressure ignited by OpenAI's ChatGPT.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.