Jeff Dean, Google’s longtime AI scientist and one of the company’s earliest employees, is departing Alphabet after nearly 27 years to launch his own company, Discovery Loop, according to reporting cited by multiple outlets. Dean joined Google in 1999 as the company’s 30th employee and is described as a key figure in Google’s AI strategy, including work connected to Google Brain. The Wall Street Journal reports that Dean will serve as CEO of Discovery Loop, a public-benefit corporation. The startup initially targets machine-learning research and engineering, with plans to expand into hardware design and applications such as drug discovery and clean energy. Dean says the concept is to automate parts of the “experimental loop” using machine-learning models to augment human scientists and explore a broader space of experiments. Alphabet is reported to invest in the startup and provide cloud and computing capacity, while Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures co-lead an initial seed round, though valuation was not disclosed. The WSJ also reports that Google researchers Oriol Vinyals, Quoc Le, and Sanjay Ghemawat are joining Dean at the new company. Alphabet shares reportedly fall after the announcement.
Jeff Dean Leaves Google to Launch Discovery Loop, Alphabet Shares Drop
Jeff Dean, Google’s longtime AI scientist and one of the company’s earliest employees, is departing Alphabet after nearly 27 years to launch his own company, Discovery Loop, according to reporting cit...
- Jeff Dean is leaving Alphabet after nearly 27 years to launch a new company, Discovery Loop.
- Dean joined Google in 1999 as its 30th employee and is described as a leading figure in its AI strategy.
- Discovery Loop focuses first on machine-learning research and engineering, with plans to expand into hardware design and areas like drug discovery and clean energy.
- Alphabet is reported to invest in the startup and provide cloud and computing capacity; Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures are reported to co-lead a seed round.
- Alphabet shares reportedly drop after the news is reported.
Longtime Google AI expert Jeff Dean is reportedly leaving to start his own company. As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (Aug. 5), Dean is one of the tech giants earliest employees — joining the company in 1999 as its 30th hire — and has spent the last 15 years helping shape its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. Dean will serve […] The post Google’s Longtime AI Strategist Leaving to Launch Own Company appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
2 hours agoGoogle's Chief AI Scientist Jeff Dean Exits After 27 Years, Alphabet Shares Slide Alphabet shares slid after The Wall Street Journal reported that Jeff Dean, one of Google's earliest employees and a key figure in its AI strategy (co-founder of Google Brain), is departing after nearly three decades to launch his own AI company. The exit raises fresh concerns about Google's ability to retain top researchers as competition for AI experts intensifies. Dean was Google's 30th employee in 1999 and will serve as CEO of Discovery Loop, a public-benefit corporation initially targeting machine-learning research and engineering. The startup will then transition to hardware design, drug discovery, and clean energy by automating multistep scientific experiments. WSJ spoke with Dean: "The four of us have been chatting about this a little bit and we got excited," Dean said in an interview at his Palo Alto, Calif., home Tuesday. "We think by automating many of the classical experimental-loop aspects with machine learning models, augmenting human scientists and engineers, we'll be able to make it possible to explore more space in broad science areas to accelerate discovery." The scientific process, he said, is about coming up with an idea for an experiment, setting up and running the experiment and then evaluating the results. "Particularly in a lot of domains, you can fully computerize that whole loop," he said -- the inspiration for the startup's name. Alphabet will invest in Dean's startup and provide cloud and computing capacity, while Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures are co-leading a seed round. The valuation wasn't disclosed. WSJ said that prominent Google researchers Oriol Vinyals, Quoc Le and Sanjay Ghemawat will be joining Dean in the new startup. Shares of Alphabet dropped 5% after the report hit: Four minutes after the WSJ report hit, Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind, wrote on X: I've been working towards AGI my whole life, and as we enter this pivotal moment, I'm stepping into a new role as Chair of Google DeepMind & Chief Scientist of Alphabet. This will allow me to focus on long-term strategy, and accelerating scientific breakthroughs, including leaning into my work at Isomorphic to help cure disease. I’ve been working towards AGI my whole life, and as we enter this pivotal moment, I’m stepping into a new role as Chair of Google DeepMind & Chief Scientist of Alphabet. This will allow me to focus on long-term strategy, and accelerating scientific breakthroughs, including… — Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) August 5, 2026 Google CEO Sundar Pichai commented on the departures, saying Dean and Ghemawat helped engineer some of the company's most significant technology transitions over nearly three decades at the company and wished them the best. Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 12:45
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