The Unexpected AI Journey of Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis: From Chess Master to Nobel Prize Winner

The journey of Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis into the world of artificial intelligence had an unexpected start – his early mastery of chess. Before receiving the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating an AI program that predicted protein structures, Hassabis was a child chess champion who started playing the game at the age of four. By age 13, he was a chess master competing against adults in international competitions.

In a recent lecture at the University of Cambridge, Hassabis, now 48, shared that chess got him “thinking about thinking itself” and exploring the mental processes behind complex thoughts. His first exposure to programming was through an electronic chess computer, sparking his fascination with how computers worked and how they could be programmed.

Hassabis co-founded AI company DeepMind in 2010, which was later acquired by Google for over $500 million in 2014. He went on to invent AlphaZero in 2017, an AI algorithm that became the strongest chess player ever after just four hours of playing against itself. In 2024, Hassabis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating AlphaFold2, an AI model that accurately predicted the complex structures of millions of proteins.

In his lecture, Hassabis discussed the potential of AI to revolutionize drug development, potentially reducing the time and cost of creating new drugs from years to minutes. He also shared his belief that artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence within the next decade.

Hassabis’s journey from chess prodigy to AI pioneer showcases the power of curiosity and dedication in pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation.