# Demis Hassabis **Domain:** Artificial Intelligence / Scientific Discovery / Cognitive Science **Doc Type:** Person Node **Maturity:** Developing **Related:** [[wiki/Google DeepMind|Google DeepMind]], [[wiki/Mechanistic Intelligence|Mechanistic Intelligence]], [[wiki/Artificial General Intelligence|Artificial General Intelligence]] --- ## Definition **Demis Hassabis** is an artificial-intelligence researcher and entrepreneur who co-founded DeepMind. His work connects general-purpose learning systems, planning, game-playing, and AI-assisted scientific discovery. ## Corpus Context [[articles/Mechanistic Intelligence Is Humanity's Greatest Liberation|Mechanistic Intelligence Is Humanity's Greatest Liberation]] places Hassabis and [[wiki/Google DeepMind|Google DeepMind]] in the article's laboratory lineage because their systems demonstrate that capabilities formerly treated as uniquely human can be decomposed into trainable architectures and objective-driven computation. The article uses those systems as evidence for tractability, not as proof that any present system is conscious. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts <!-- BEGIN SIMPLE REMINDER SEED 2026-09-11 --> > "[The risk of catastrophic AI outcomes is] worth very seriously considering and mitigating against." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2025, discussion of non-zero catastrophic AI risk* *Verification Status: Editorially quarantined — terminal fragment without the risk being evaluated. Recover a complete, self-contained passage before promotion.* [[reminders/Existential Risk/Catastrophic AI Risk Deserves Serious Mitigation by Demis Hassabis|Catastrophic AI Risk Deserves Serious Mitigation by Demis Hassabis]] > "Can we make sure that– we can keep control of [increasingly autonomous and powerful AI] systems? That they're aligned with our values, they– they're doing what we want that benefits society. And they stay on guardrails." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2025, 60 Minutes interview* *Verification Status: Editorially quarantined — `the systems` are not identified. Recover a complete, self-contained passage before promotion.* [[reminders/AI Control/Keeping Control of AI by Demis Hassabis|Keeping Control of AI by Demis Hassabis]] > "Proceed with exceptional care." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2023, interview with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak* *Verification Status: Editorially quarantined — the thing that must proceed carefully is absent. Recover a complete, self-contained passage before promotion.* [[reminders/unverified/Proceed with Exceptional Care by Demis Hassabis|Proceed with Exceptional Care by Demis Hassabis]] > "In the situation where there's a high degree of uncertainty, but huge potential impact either way, I think [the only right way] to proceed [with increasingly powerful AI systems] is with the precautionary principle." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2023, discussion of AI development* *Verification Status: Editorially quarantined — `the only right way to proceed` omits what action or program is at issue. Recover a complete, self-contained passage before promotion.* [[reminders/AI Control/The Precautionary Principle for Advanced AI by Demis Hassabis|The Precautionary Principle for Advanced AI by Demis Hassabis]] > "We must take the risks of AI as seriously as other major global challenges, like climate change." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2023, media interview* [[reminders/Existential Risk/Treat AI Risk as Seriously as Climate Change by Demis Hassabis|Treat AI Risk as Seriously as Climate Change by Demis Hassabis]] <!-- END SIMPLE REMINDER SEED 2026-09-11 --> > "Step one: Solve intelligence. Step two: Use it to solve everything else." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2010, DeepMind founding-era mission formulation* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: DeepMind founding-era mission formulation, 2010.* [[reminders/unverified/Step One Solve Intelligence Step Two Use It to Solve Everything Else by Demis Hassabis|Step One Solve Intelligence Step Two Use It to Solve Everything Else by Demis Hassabis]] > "We believe AGI will be the most profound technology ever invented." > **— Demis Hassabis**, *2026, DeepMind, '10 years of AlphaGo'* [[reminders/Machine Succession/We Believe AGI Will Be the Most Profound Technology Ever Invented by Demis Hassabis|We Believe AGI Will Be the Most Profound Technology Ever Invented by Demis Hassabis]] ## Sources / Provenance - [Google DeepMind — about](https://deepmind.google/about/) - [Nobel Prize facts — Demis Hassabis](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/hassabis/facts/) ## See Also [[wiki/Google DeepMind|Google DeepMind]] · [[wiki/Mechanistic Intelligence|Mechanistic Intelligence]] · [[wiki/Artificial General Intelligence|Artificial General Intelligence]] · [[wiki/AlphaFold|AlphaFold]] · [[wiki/Reinforcement Learning|Reinforcement Learning]]