The Unlikely Journey of Two A.I. Executives

Mustafa Suleyman's childhood was spent in subsidized housing in a rough area of London. His father, originally from Syria, worked as a taxi driver, while his mother was a nurse with the National Health Service. At the age of 11, he was accepted into the prestigious Queen Elizabeth’s School, prompting the family to move to a safer, leafier neighborhood a few miles north.

It was in this new neighborhood that Suleyman crossed paths with Demis Hassabis, then 20 years old. They became friends through Hassabis's younger brother. Hassabis, a chess prodigy and video game designer, had parents from different cultural backgrounds: one was a Greek Cypriot, and the other was Singaporean, both running a toy store in London.

Rise to Power

Fast forward to the present day, and both Suleyman, now 39, and Dr. Hassabis, 47, have become influential figures in the tech industry's pursuit of artificial intelligence. Dr. Hassabis serves as the chief executive of Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s central research lab for artificial intelligence, while Mr. Suleyman was recently appointed as the chief executive of Microsoft AI, overseeing the company’s A.I. consumer products.

Their trajectory from humble beginnings in London to the executive offices of major tech companies is a remarkable and personal tale within an industry known for its vibrant personalities and intense rivalries. Notably, in 2010, they co-founded DeepMind, an A.I. research lab aimed at preventing the very competitive race to develop and implement A.I. that they are now actively involved in.