Google AI has reached another moment that calls for Sergey Brin to personally stand watch. With Demis Hassabis handing off day-to-day control of DeepMind and multiple core researchers heading out the door, Brin's influence over Google's AI strategy is climbing again. Koray Kavukcuoglu, the researcher now leading Gemini, has moved to Mountain View — his desk is right next to Brin's.
The same scene played out three years ago. When ChatGPT detonated, Brin had already been out of Google's day-to-day work for years. At one party, an OpenAI employee confronted him face to face: "AI is going through the most transformative moment in computer science — what are you doing?" …