655. Inside The Mind of DeepMind’s Founder with Sebastian Mallaby
From unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc by Greg La Blanc
May 28, 2026 · 50 min · Episode 655
About this episode
Sebastian Mallaby discusses the journey of Demis Hassabis from a teenage video game designer to a leading figure in artificial intelligence.
How did a teenage video game designer from London become a Nobel Prize-winning scientist behind one of the most consequential technology efforts in history? Sebastian Mallaby is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the new book, The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence which provides an in-depth look into one of the greatest minds behind artificial general intelligence. In this episode, Sebastian and Greg discuss how Hassabis's early immersion in game design and neuroscience shaped his unique approach to artificial intelligence, why groundbreaking science is increasingly happening outside academia, and the tension between scientific discovery and corporate strategy. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*
People in this episode
Host: Greg LaBlanc
Guest: Sebastian Mallaby
Topics covered
- artificial intelligence
- DeepMind
- scientific discovery
- corporate strategy
- game design
- neuroscience
Keywords
- DeepMind
- artificial general intelligence
- Nobel Prize
- game design
- neuroscience
- corporate strategy
- scientific discovery
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Council on Foreign Relations, DeepMind
Books & works: The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence
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