Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis was reported to be an early investor in Anthropic, a revelation underscoring the concentration of power at the top of the AI industry.
Former DeepMind researchers have founded more than a dozen companies since 2021, while Hassabis’ co-founder Mustafa Suleyman is now CEO of Microsoft AI. Anthropic boss Dario Amodei, formerly of OpenAI, considers Hassabis a role model, the Financial Times reported.
Not all such relationships are so respectful — Elon Musk’s unsuccessful lawsuit against OpenAI laid bare the enmity between him and CEO Sam Altman — but even that was evidence of the tight-knit world of AI leaders. The pair founded the company together in 2015; the row is a family squabble within the new AI aristocracy.