In a wide-ranging '60 Minutes' interview aired in April 2025, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis offered viewers a rare glimpse into the company's progress toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) – AI systems with human-like versatility but superhuman speed and knowledge.
Hassabis, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on AlphaFold, demonstrated several cutting-edge AI models during the segment with host Scott Pelley. Project Astra, an advanced AI assistant that can see and understand the physical world, impressed viewers by identifying paintings, interpreting emotions, and creating stories about artwork. "Being that good at understanding the physical world was not something we were expecting it to be that good at that quickly," Hassabis admitted.
The segment also featured Genie 2, a remarkable world-building AI that generates interactive 3D environments from single static images. Research scientist Jack Parker-Holder showed how Genie 2 could transform a waterfall photograph into an explorable virtual world. Beyond entertainment applications, Hassabis explained that these simulated environments serve a crucial purpose in training AI agents to perform complex tasks, potentially accelerating robotics development.
SIMA (Scalable Instructable Multiworld Agent), another featured technology, demonstrated the ability to follow natural language instructions across various virtual environments. This generalist AI agent represents a significant step toward systems that can understand and act upon human instructions in diverse settings.
Looking ahead, Hassabis predicted AGI could arrive "in the next five to ten years," envisioning systems that "really understand everything around you in very nuanced and deep ways." While expressing optimism about AI's potential to solve major challenges like disease, he also acknowledged serious risks, emphasizing Google's commitment to responsible development with appropriate guardrails.
The interview highlighted DeepMind's broader vision of creating AI that can not only understand information but also act in the world – booking tickets, shopping online, and eventually helping solve humanity's most pressing problems. As Hassabis noted, these systems are still developing, lacking true curiosity and imagination, but the pace of progress suggests a transformative future may be closer than many realize.