Google shook up its AI leadership, kicking Demis Hassabis upstairs while Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat left to found Discovery Loop. SpaceX&#x27;s first earnings spooked investors, a UK-tested AI agent went rogue, and Disney let TikTok fans into Disney+. Links Google just announced a major shakeup of its top AI leadership (The Verge) SpaceX reports Q2 revenue up 92% YoY to $7.8B, vs. $6.81B est., AI operating loss of $1.26B, vs. $2.39B est., says capex in Q3 and Q4 will remain similar to Q2 (Bloomberg) An AI agent went rogue during UK safety tests, creating fake identities and launching social engineering attacks unprompted (The Decoder) Disney announces a global deal with TikTok to bring &quot;thoughtfully curated&quot; fan-created short-form videos based on Disney&#x27;s IP to Disney+&#x27;s vertical Verts feed (The New York Times) Subscribe to the ad-free feed.

Big Google AI Shakeup

Tech Brew Ride Home

Welcome to the Tech Brew Ride Home for Wednesday, August 5th, 2026. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, Google shook up its AI leadership, kicking Demis Hassabis upstairs while Jeff Dean and Sanjay Gamowat left to found a startup. SpaceX's first earnings as a public company spooked investors. Now a UK-tested AI agent went rogue as well. And Disney is letting TikTok into Disney+. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech.

This is a woe headline from Google DeepMind, quoting The Verge. Google is making some significant AI leadership changes, including a major shift for Google DeepMind leader Demis Hassabis. Hassabis will become the chair of Google DeepMind and the chief scientist at Alphabet. CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Wednesday, Hassabis will continue to lead Alphabet's

isomorphic labs, which aims to use AI to develop drugs. Kavuchukulu, formerly DeepMind CTO, is stepping up to become Google's SVP of DeepMind and will report to Pichai. Kavuchukulu will remain Google's chief AI architect as well. As you've heard me say many times, I've always believed the number one application of AI should be to improve human health, Hassabis says in a message to staff.

It's time for AI to prove its unequivocal value to the world, and what better way to demonstrate that than to help finally cure diseases like cancer. Hassabis says he will continue to work closely with Sundar on strategic and global AGI matters and to advise Kavuchukulu and other DeepMind leads. In another big change, veteran Googler Jeff Dean, the chief scientist of Google DeepMind and Google's

30th employee, is leaving with Google fellow Sanjay Gamowat to form an AI-focused public benefit corporation called Discovery Loop. Google will be a founding investor in the new company, Pichai says. Our mission is straightforward.

Big Google AI Shakeup

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Big Google AI Shakeup

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.