Google Deepmind pioneer David Silver departs to found AI startup, betting LLMs alone won't reach superintelligence

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Jan 31, 2026

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Google Deepmind loses one of its leading AI researchers as David Silver departs, adding to growing skepticism that current language models alone can achieve superintelligence.

Silver was one of the AI lab's first employees and played a central role in landmark projects like AlphaGo, AlphaZero, and MuZero. According to Fortune, Silver has left to start his own company in London called Ineffable Intelligence. The startup was registered in November 2025 and is currently seeking investors and AI researchers.