Google's Jeff Dean launches AI startup Discovery Loop

Jeff Dean, Google's longtime chief scientist, has launched Discovery Loop, a new artificial intelligence startup with longtime Google colleagues Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le, all of whom most recently held senior AI and engineering roles at the company.

Announcing the venture on X, Dean wrote, "We are founding Discovery Loop... a Public Benefit Corporation whose mission is to automate machine learning, science, and engineering to accelerate discoveries and progress." He added that the four founders have worked together for between 14 and 30 years, helping build Google's AI models, products and computing infrastructure.

According to the official website of Discovery Loop, the company is focused on building AI systems that automate the iterative process of scientific discovery. Its research agenda includes generating hypotheses, designing experiments, analysing results and improving subsequent iterations to accelerate progress in machine learning, science and engineering.


It also states that the company aims to develop systems that can support researchers through the entire discovery process, with an initial focus on machine learning before expanding into other scientific and engineering disciplines.

Meanwhile, Demis Hassabis will take ⁠the newly created title of Alphabet’s chief scientist and transition from being Google DeepMind CEO to being its chairman, he said in a memo to staff.