Google I/O 2026 was already packed with AI announcements, futuristic demos and enough Gemini updates to keep developers busy for months. But right at the end of the keynote, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis quietly dropped a statement that instantly changed the mood in the room. “AGI is now on the horizon…with the goal of one day solving all diseases. I think we will realise we are standing at the foothills of singularity,” Hassabis said during the event. That single comment has now sparked a much larger conversation across the tech world. Not because AI executives haven’t spoken about AGI before, but because this came from Hassabis, one of the most respected voices in artificial intelligence research.
What Exactly Is AGI?
AGI, short for Artificial General Intelligence, refers to an AI system capable of thinking, learning and adapting across nearly every cognitive task humans can perform. Unlike today’s AI tools that specialise in specific jobs, AGI would theoretically be able to handle multiple domains at once. Writing software, conducting scientific research, solving medical problems, negotiating contracts, or even teaching philosophy, all from a single system. That’s why many researchers consider AGI the ultimate milestone in AI development.
Until recently, Hassabis himself had maintained that AGI was still roughly five to eight years away. At Google I/O, however, he avoided giving a direct timeline. Instead, he used the phrase “foothills of singularity,” a term often associated with the moment AI surpasses human intelligence entirely. And yes, it sounded a little like science fiction.
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AI That Could “Solve All Disease”
Before making the AGI remarks, the Nobel Prize-winning DeepMind chief showcased several Gemini-powered AI features designed to automate everyday digital tasks. Google demonstrated AI systems that could browse the web, assist with shopping, track tasks and function almost like a real-time personal assistant.
But Hassabis connected the future of AGI to something much bigger: healthcare. He suggested advanced AI systems could eventually help “solve all disease” by processing huge amounts of biological and medical data far faster than humans ever could.
To be fair, AI is already playing a growing role in science. Researchers are using it for protein structure prediction, medical imaging analysis and accelerating drug discovery. DeepMind itself previously made headlines with AlphaFold, an AI system that helped predict protein structures.