- Google merges DeepMind and Brain under Hassabis to streamline AI development.
- Osterloh leads expanded hardware division, focusing on Pixel and Android AI.
- Reid heads Search amid AI-powered search rollout and challenges.
In a significant reorganization, Google CEO Sundar Pichai merged DeepMind and Google Brain into a single AI unit named Google DeepMind, led by Demis Hassabis.
The DeepMind founder and CEO now oversees about 2,600 employees and is tasked with building artificial general intelligence.
The consolidation aims to streamline AI development and integrate it into Google’s consumer-facing products.
Osterloh’s expanding empire
Rick Osterloh, Google’s hardware chief, has been entrusted with the combined platforms and devices group, overseeing nearly 25,000 employees.
The move signals Google’s renewed focus on hardware, particularly the Pixel lineup, and the company’s ambition to leverage AI on the Android platform.
Osterloh’s leadership will be crucial in Google’s efforts to catch up to Apple in the smartphone and augmented reality markets.
Search veteran Liz Reid navigates AI-powered search
Liz Reid, a Google veteran since 2003, has been appointed as the head of Search, reporting directly to Prabhakar Raghavan, the senior vice president of ads and search.
Reid’s promotion comes as Google rolls out its generative-AI search experience, AI Overviews, to over 1 billion users worldwide.
Together with Cheenu Venkatachary, who leads Search quality and ranking, Reid faces challenges such as AI-generated spam, declining publisher visibility, and the potential threat to Google’s search advertising revenue.
