Competing visions of AGI emerge at Google DeepMind and Microsoft
AGI development is increasingly shaped by differing priorities around science, products and governance.
Two former DeepMind co-founders now leading rival AI labs have outlined sharply different visions for how artificial general intelligence (AGI) should be developed, highlighting a growing strategic divide at the top of the industry.
Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis has framed AGI as a scientific tool for tackling foundational challenges. These include fusion energy, advanced materials, and fundamental physics. He says current models still lack consistent reasoning across tasks.
Hassabis has pointed to weaknesses, such as so-called ‘jagged intelligence’. Systems can perform well on complex benchmarks but fail simple tasks. DeepMind is investing in physics-based evaluations and AlphaZero-inspired research to enable genuine knowledge discovery rather than data replication.
Microsoft AI chief executive Mustafa Suleyman has taken a more product-led stance, framing AGI as an economic force rather than a scientific milestone. He has rejected the idea of race, instead prioritising controllable and reliable AI agents that operate under human oversight.
Suleyman has argued that governance, not raw capability, is the central challenge. He has emphasised containment, liability frameworks, and certified agents, reflecting wider tensions between rapid deployment and long-term scientific ambition as AI systems grow more influential.
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