DeepMind CEO to meet President Lee in Seoul on April 27 - 네이트

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chief executive of Google DeepMind, will visit South Korea and meet President Lee Jae-myung on April 27, marking his first trip to the country in a decade since the landmark AlphaGo match in 2016. According to industry sources last weekend, Hassabis is scheduled to meet President Lee at 3 p.m. at Cheong Wa Dae. The two are expected to discuss cooperation between Google and the South Korean government and companies in the field of artificial intelligence. Hassabis is also likely to share insights from developing Google’s AI models such as AlphaGo and Gemini, particularly as the Korean government pushes to select a homegrown AI foundation model. President Lee has been strengthening partnerships with global tech firms including OpenAI, NVIDIA and SoftBank to position South Korea as one of the world’s top three AI powers, while also promoting the establishment of a “global AI hub” in the country. Hassabis gained global recognition by leading the historic match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol, which showcased the arrival of the AI era. Under his leadership, DeepMind has expanded AI applications into scientific research, notably developing AlphaFold, a model that predicts protein structures. According to DeepMind, more than 3 million researchers worldwide are using the AlphaFold database for studies ranging from malaria vaccines to plastic-degrading enzymes. Hassabis was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for these contributions. Currently, Hassabis is focusing on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), aiming for human-level intelligence. He recently said that combining Gemini’s world models, AlphaGo’s planning and search capabilities, and specialized AI tools will be key to achieving AGI. Discussions with President Lee are expected to include potential collaboration with major Korean companies in this process. During his visit, attention is also on whether he will meet executives from major Korean firms. DeepMind is currently working with Hyundai Motor Group to advance physical AI models for next-generation humanoid robots such as Atlas, developed by Boston Dynamics. Hassabis is also scheduled to meet Lee Sedol again on April 29 at the “Google for Korea 2026” event for a discussion on the legacy of AlphaGo and the future of AI. He is expected to play a friendly match with world No. 1 Go player Shin Jin-seo. ▶ “경차 따위가 감히 벤츠 앞질러”…보복하다 ‘217cm 최홍만’ 나오면? [최기성의 허브車] ▶ “편의점인데 두 시간 있다 왔어”…성수·명동에서 벌어지는 일 ▶ “낮잠 자주 자는 부모님, 단순 피곤 아냐”…낮잠이 보내는 위험 신호 ▶ “7천피 갈수 있겠지만, 이쯤 먹었으면 됐어요”…개미 역대 최대 순매도 ‘눈앞’ ▶ “더 간다? 숨 고른다?”…이번주 코스피, 미 FOMC·빅테크 실적이 가른다