"Artificial intelligence (AI) will become a force multiplier in 10 years, amplifying human capabilities and driving dramatic advances in science and medicine. As a result, humanity is expected to enter a golden age of prosperity."
Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), said at Google for Korea 2026 at the Westin Josun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 29th, "By using AI, we expect to be able to solve the biggest problems facing humanity within the next 10 to 20 years." As AI advances toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), it will lead to groundbreaking results and discoveries across all fields, including science, medicine and the environment, he said.
The event was held to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2016 match between AlphaGo, Google DeepMind's Go-specific AI, and 9-dan Lee Sedol. AlphaGo won the series against 9-dan Lee with four wins and one loss. It drew attention as the "match of the century" in which AI beat humans at Go for the first time.
In a conversation with UNIST professor Lee Sedol, whom he met again after 10 years, Hassabis said, "Looking back, the match held in Seoul 10 years ago was significant as it heralded the dawn of the AI era," adding, "Over the past decade, AI has moved beyond the lab into the real world, and we are now entering a new era in which AI becomes an agent that autonomously performs a variety of tasks on behalf of users."
He stressed that AlphaGo became a starting point for AI progress beyond a simple match. Google DeepMind later developed AlphaFold, an AI model that predicts protein structures, and Hassabis won the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry in recognition of this achievement.
Hassabis said, "In the past, predicting protein structures was a flagship challenge in biology for 50 years because it took so long—one Ph.D. researcher would spend five years analyzing just a single protein structure," adding, "AlphaFold can predict as many as 200 million protein structures."
He predicted that AI will advance toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) and make a major contribution to human progress. Hassabis emphasized, "We should aim to use AI to solve the biggest challenges facing humanity, such as disease treatment, environmental protection, space exploration and energy issues." He also predicted that in the AGI era, a "breakout moment" will come, with progress and change unfolding on a scale 10 times larger and 10 times faster than the Industrial Revolution.
He also gave high marks to Korea's potential. Hassabis said, "Korea has a strong industrial base from semiconductors to robotics, as well as excellent universities and research capabilities, including Seoul National University and KAIST," adding, "It has ample potential to emerge as a leading nation in the AI era."
Yoon Gu, president of Google Korea, also said in opening remarks that "Korea is the fastest-growing market in the Asia-Pacific region for Gemini usage, and 82% of users define AI as a partner that helps growth, making it an 'AI first-mover' nation."
As part of the National AI Partnership signed with the Korean government during this visit, Google DeepMind decided to establish Google AI Campus, a global research collaboration hub, in Seoul. The AI Campus, which Google is pushing to open within the year, will be created in a space of about 1,980㎡ (600 pyeong) in Gangnam, Seoul, and will serve as a base for the K-Moonshot Project, an AI-based technology cooperation initiative between Google DeepMind and domestic startups and researchers.