What happened
Ineffable Intelligence, the London-based AI startup founded by ex-Google DeepMind researcher David Silver, has added six high-profile 'cofounders,' including four former DeepMind colleagues who worked with Silver on the 2019 AlphaStar breakthrough. The company confirmed the hires but declined to comment further.
Why it matters
Ineffable was valued at $5 billion when it raised a $1.1 billion seed round in April, the largest seed investment ever in Europe. The hiring spree adds to a wave of recent high-profile departures from Google DeepMind to rival AI companies, feeding a perception that DeepMind is now struggling.
What to watch
Oh, who will run reinforcement learning at Ineffable, was a reinforcement learning lead on AlphaStar and, in 2025, was among the first to use AI to discover new reinforcement learning algorithms. His hiring suggests Ineffable will use automated research to accelerate its quest for superintelligence, which hinges on the success of its reinforcement-learning approach.
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Ineffable Intelligence launched earlier this year to pursue AI superintelligence, a mission it shares with other 'neolabs' founded by veterans of older frontier companies like Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The company was incorporated in November 2025 by George 'Geordie' Rose, who later moved to an advisory role, with Silver becoming a director in January 2026 after leaving DeepMind. The new hires bring deep experience from Silver's past projects, reinforcing the startup's chosen technical path.
Ineffable's commitment to reinforcement learning is central to its identity. Czarnecki's focus on multi-agent research and Oh's work on AlphaStar and automated algorithm discovery suggest the startup will push on both core techniques and using AI to accelerate AI research, a concept known as recursive self-improvement. Gorham's prior work helped secure an early investment from Flying Fish and a partnership with Google Cloud for computing power, which was announced in July.
The startup's strategy appears to hinge on attracting top talent from established labs and applying a single, well-defined technical approach to the ambitious goal of superintelligence. The recent wave of departures from Google DeepMind could signal a shift in where cutting-edge AI research is headed, and Ineffable's progress will be a test of whether a focused, reinforcement-learning-centric approach can compete with the resources and broader research agendas of the larger, older companies.
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