DeepMind CEO Hassabis: AGI Possible by 2029, 2026 Is a Practice Run
DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told Axios he broadly expects artificial general intelligence to emerge around 2030, now also citing 2029 as a credible possibility — pulling forward the timeline slightly from prior public statements. He described 2026's agentic era as "a bit like a practice run," framing current autonomous systems as preliminary infrastructure and preparatory capability development rather than the transformative inflection point the AI industry has been anticipating.
Why It Matters
A 2029 possibility from the CEO of the world's most credibly positioned AGI lab — not a fringe forecaster — changes the planning horizon for enterprise technology investment, regulatory preparation, and workforce strategy, compressing the window for adaptation.