Google’s Big Shakeup Gives More Power to DeepMind and Pixel Leaders

• Google is merging more parts of the company in an effort to move faster in the AI ​​space.
• The head of Google’s DeepMind has gained more power, while the head of Pixel will also oversee Android.
• The changes give more firepower to some key Google products and could help with a faster launch.

The Googleplex is evolving.

CEO Sundar Pichai announced a series of reorganizations in a memo to staff on Thursday and, surprise, surprise, Google says it’s all happening thanks to artificial intelligence.

Pichai said the changes, which include merging different parts of the company, would help Google “simplify decisions” and move forward more quickly.

This includes continuing to merge its core AI teams. Last year, Google combined Brain, a group that was part of its AI research group, with DeepMind to form a new super-unit that would be laser-focused on creating AI models.

On Thursday, Pichai said research teams working on building AI models would also merge with Google DeepMind. Responsible AI teams, which develop rules for developing AI safely and ethically, will also move from research to Google DeepMind, he said.

All in all, this gives more control to Demis Hassabis, who runs Google DeepMind. Before last year’s merger, Hassabis ran DeepMind at arm’s length from Google — a distance he had long fought to maintain — and is now at the center of the company’s AI efforts.

Hassabis has quickly become Google’s MVP, with his unit developing AI models like Gemini that help the company compete with OpenAI and other encroaching competitors. It also helps turn these designs into products.

Interestingly, Pichai said this change should help by “concentrating the creation of computationally intensive models in one place.” It could also help solve a problem that has been growing inside Google for some time: the fight for IT resources.

Google’s Pixel chief also gains more power

Google is also merging two of its major product units. The devices and services group, which oversees hardware products such as Pixel devices and Fitbit wearables, will merge with the part of the company that manages Android and Chrome.

This is huge: these are two huge organizations that are now grouped under the banner “Platforms and Devices”. Rick Osterloh, who previously oversaw hardware, will oversee both groups. Hiroshi Lockheimer, who led the Android and Chrome group, will remain at Google but will lead other projects within the company, Pichai said.

Sameer Samat has also been promoted to “President of Android Ecosystems” and will work with all of Google’s Android partners. It will play a crucial role in maintaining the firewall between the Pixel and Android groups, which has long served to prevent Google from giving its hardware special treatment over its competitors (a firewall promised by Osterloh to The Verge would remain in place).

Expect more restructuring as Google continues to reshape itself around AI.

On Wednesday, Google CFO Ruth Porat informed staff at the financial group that there would be a reorganization leading to job cuts, BI first reported. Porat said the changes were underway as the company realigned its priorities around AI, according to an employee who saw the memo.

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