Why AI's deepest minds believe the world is about to change radically

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day, reviewed by our editorial team. Read the full piece on The Wall Street Journal or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google DeepMind and Nobel Prize-winning scientist, believes artificial general intelligence (AGI) could arrive within the next two to three years
• His long-term vision is to use AI not just to automate everyday tasks, but to accelerate scientific discoveries and transform fields such as medicine

🔭 The context: Hassabis co-founded DeepMind in 2010, and Google acquired the company in 2014 for approximately $650 million
• He later founded Isomorphic Labs, which applies AI to drug discovery
• His approach combines ambitious expectations for AI’s scientific potential with concern about its risks, arguing that responsible development and safeguards must accompany progress

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: AI-driven scientific breakthroughs could help advance climate modelling, energy systems and materials research
• The growing computational demands of advanced AI also raise questions about energy use and infrastructure

⏭️ What’s next: The coming years will test whether AI can deliver meaningful advances in science and healthcare while remaining safe and accountable
• Hassabis has also advocated stronger independent oversight of advanced AI systems, including safety testing for potentially dangerous capabilities

💬 One quote: “The ultimate goal was to build AI and understand the mind, then use it to understand science,” Hassabis told The Wall Street Journal.

📈 One stat: 2–3 years — Hassabis’s estimated timeline for the emergence of AGI, as reported by The Wall Street Journal in October 2026. This is his forecast, not an established scientific consensus

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