CEOInterviews.AI
Start App
Try: AI strategy tariffs earnings guidance layoffs interest rates growth

Pushmeet Kohli

VP of Science and Strategic Initiatives, Google DeepMind, DeepMind

Search every verified Pushmeet Kohli interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Pushmeet Kohli, VP of Science and Strategic Initiatives at Google DeepMind, recently discussed the limitations of AI in biology during an October 2026 panel on scaling AI for scientific discovery. He stated that while AlphaFold achieved conceptual advances in protein folding prediction, the problem is not fully solved, noting that researchers do not know the true ground-state structures or distribution of protein structures in nature. Kohli argued that scaling compute and data alone will not address all biological challenges, and he emphasized the need for both incremental and transformative approaches to scientific progress. In a separate October 2026 podcast appearance, Kohli discussed SynthID, DeepMind's watermarking technology for AI-generated content, which has expanded from text, images, and video to biological molecules. He explained that the project, initiated about eight years ago, aims to provide provenance for AI outputs, including protein sequences and 3D biomolecular structures. Kohli described two related systems: one that embeds watermarks into predicted protein structures by altering atomic positions, and another that modifies amino acid selection in sequences without changing functional meaning. He noted that traditional classification-based detection methods are insufficient for newer generative systems, underscoring the need for embedded watermarking approaches.

Recent appearances

  • The Bitter Lesson of Biology: Why Scaling AI Isn't Enough — Pushmeet K, DeepMind & Sal C, Biohub

    October 09, 2026 · 📺 Latent Space

    From the Bitter Lesson of AI scaling to the unsolved mysteries of protein folding, Google DeepMind’s Pushmeet Kohli and Biohub’s Sal Candido are rethinking what it takes to build AI that truly understands biology. In this special panel moderated by Brandon Anderson, they explore why AlphaFold’s breakthrough was only the beginning, why scaling compute and data alone won't solve biology, and how the next generation of AI models could transform our understanding of proteins, cells, and human disease. We go deep on the future of AI-driven biology: finding scaling laws in biological data, the trad…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • From deepfakes to DNA: the science of watermarking AI

    October 01, 2026 · 📺 Google DeepMind

    How do you know if what you're seeing is real? Professor Hannah Fry sits down with Pushmeet Kohli (VP of Science) and Jeremy Ratcliffe (Research Scientist) to break down SynthID, the watermarking technology expanding from text, images, and video straight into biology. Learn how invisible, mathematical watermarks help trace AI provenance, protect against misuse, and safeguard protein sequence design without impacting biological function. Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 00:34 What is a watermark? 04:35 SynthID 15:16 Images and video 19:28 SynthID Bio 28:00 Future of resilience Learn more ab…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • AI x BIO 2026 | Keynote lecture by Pushmeet Kohli, Google DeepMind, UK

    June 16, 2026 · 📺 Sanger Institute Scientific Training and Events

    Conference: AI x BIO 2026 Speaker: Pushmeet Kohli, Google DeepMind, UK Talk title: Leveraging AI to advance biology Location: Wellcome Genome Campus, UK #ai #genomics #biology #research

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • 10 years of AlphaGo: The turning point for AI

    March 10, 2026 · 📺 Google DeepMind

    Seoul, March 2016. Two players sit hunched over a 19x19 grid covered in a sea of black and white stones. They are playing the ancient game of Go - a game of unimaginable complexity long thought impossible for a machine to master. On one side is Lee Sedol (Sae Dol), a legendary 18-time Go world champion. On the other, AlphaGo, a neural network based AI system built on a powerful technique called reinforcement learning. In the blink of an eye, the world changed. Exactly one decade later, we look back at the match that sparked the modern AI revolution. From algorithmic discovery to the solving…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • India’s big AI opportunity is democratising expertise: Google DeepMind senior exec

    March 04, 2026 · 📺 PTI News

    India’s biggest AI opportunity lies in democratising expertise at scale and advancing scientific frontiers, says Pushmeet Kohli, VP of Research at Google DeepMind. In an interview, Kohli highlighted how AI can expand access to quality healthcare for 1.4 billion Indians, accelerate drug discovery, and strengthen sectors like agriculture and energy. He pointed to breakthroughs such as AlphaFold, which has transformed biology and is used by over 3.3 million researchers globally, including 180,000 in India. Kohli said India’s strong talent base and research ecosystem position it to play a key role…

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Google DeepMind's Pushmeet Kohli says India in perfect position to leverage AI

    February 12, 2026 · 📺 moneycontrol

    Pushmeet Kohli, one of the "hottest" AI researchers in the world currently and vice president of research at Google DeepMind, gave an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol's Managing Editor Dr Nalin Mehta and shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence and its impact on India. #artificialintelligence #nalinmehta #pushmeetkohli #googledeepmind #airesearch Moneycontrol is India’s leading financial portal, offering market news, expert analysis, and powerful tools. A part of Network18, moneycontrol.com is India’s most trusted destination for financial and business news. #live #livenews #latestn…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • ‘Want To Push Boundaries Of AI, Develop Most Powerful…’: Google Deepmind’s Pushmeet Kohli |HTLS 2025

    December 06, 2025 · 📺 Hindustan Times

    Google DeepMind’s Pushmeet Kohli, at HT Leadership Summit 2025, said the lab’s mission is to “push the boundaries of AI” and build the most powerful, useful models possible while keeping safety and societal benefit at the core of its work. He spoke about advancing frontier capabilities in reasoning and science, but stressed rigorous evaluation, alignment research and strong guardrails so that next‑generation AI systems remain trustworthy and broadly beneficial rather than disruptive. #PushmeetKohli #HTLS2025 #GoogleDeepMind #AI #FrontierModels #AISafety #ResponsibleAI #Innovation #Trustworth…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Google DeepMind’s Pushmeet Kohli: AlphaFold, AGI & The Future of Science

    October 30, 2025 · 📺 Singh in USA

    AlphaFold might be the most practical breakthrough in AI. With DeepMind VP Dr. Pushmeet Kohli, his work led multiple breakthrough AlphaFold, AlphaEvolve, Alpha Tensor and a lot more! He switched from his solid career in CS to Sciences starting from zero again and yet led breakthroughs. 📲 Get premium wireless for as low as $15 a month with my partner at https://www.mintmobile.com/singh My Recommendations: https://linktree.com/singhinusa 1. How I Edit podcast & enhance audio: https://adobe.prf.hn/click/camref:110... 2. Checkout KodeKloud & Get upto 45% Off https://bit.ly/4dpsE7y (includes AW…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • GDM’s Pushmeet Kohli on solving science's biggest challenges with AI

    September 10, 2025 · 📺 Google for Developers

    Pushmeet Kohli, Head of Science and Strategic Initiatives at Google DeepMind, joins host Logan Kilpatrick to explore the intersection of AI and scientific discovery. Learn how the team's unique problem-solving framework led to innovations like AlphaFold and AlphaEvolve, and how new tools like AI Co-scientist aim to democratize these types of breakthroughs for everyone. 0:00 - Intro 1:04 - Recent Alpha launches 02:15 - Framework for selecting research domains 06:21 - Scientific, commercial and social impact 15:00 - Wielding AGI for breakthroughs 16:48 - Tech transfer and team collaboration…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • DeepMind's Pushmeet Kohli on AI's Scientific Revolution

    July 15, 2025 · 📺 Sequoia Capital

    Pushmeet Kohli leads AI for Science at DeepMind, where his team has created AlphaEvolve, an AI system that discovers entirely new algorithms and proves mathematical results that have eluded researchers for decades. From improving 50-year-old matrix multiplication algorithms to generating interpretable code for complex problems like data center scheduling, AlphaEvolve represents a new paradigm where LLMs coupled with evolutionary search can outperform human experts. Pushmeet explains the technical architecture behind these breakthroughs and shares insights from collaborations with mathematician…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Google DeepMind's Dr Pushmeet Kohli on Artificial Intelligence | Lord Speaker's Lecture.

    July 07, 2025 · 📺 House of Lords

    The Lord Speaker welcomed Dr Pushmeet Kohli, Vice President Science and Strategic Initiatives at Google DeepMind, to give a Lord Speaker's Lecture on the topic of Artificial Intelligence on Tuesday 17 June 2025. Catch-up on House of Lords business: Watch live events: https://parliamentlive.tv/Lords Read the latest news: https://www.parliament.uk/lords/ Stay up to date with the House of Lords on social media: • X:   / ukhouseoflords   • Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/houseoflords... • Instagram:   / ukhouseoflords   • Facebook:   / ukhouseoflords   • Flickr: https://flickr.com/pho…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • No Priors Ep. 120 | With Google DeepMind’s Pushmeet Kohli and Matej Balog

    June 26, 2025 · 📺 No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups

    Much of the scientific process involves searching. But rather than continue to rely on the luck of discovery, Google DeepMind has engineered a more efficient AI agent that mines complex spaces to facilitate scientific breakthroughs. Sarah Guo speaks with Pushmeet Kohli, VP of Science and Strategic Initiatives, and research scientist Matej Balog at Google DeepMind about AlphaEvolve, an autonomous coding agent they developed that finds new algorithms through evolutionary search. Pushmeet and Matej talk about how AlphaEvolve tackles the problem of matrix multiplication efficiency, scaling and ite…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“The definition of AGI, I wouldn't want to go into the course sort of definition of what constitutes AGI. But I think the core point is that these models are able to exhibit certain reasoning abilities that allow them to solve tasks. Now the question is what kind of abilities are they able to exhibit? In some cases they have been able to exhibit superhuman capabilities. Like if you take the example of AlphaFold, it's ”

“What does this revolution mean for the United Kingdom? It means opportunity. An opportunity to drive economic growth, create high value jobs, and tackle some of our most pressing national challenges. From improving healthcare outcomes in our NHS to achieving net zero ambitions, the future scientific and economic success of this nation will increasingly depend on our ability to fully harness AI in the pursuit of disco”

Other executives at DeepMind

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →