FT: Despite 'DeepMind Mafia' Pulling Billions Into London AI Startups, None of Hassabis' Former Lieutenants Is Building a Homegrown UK Frontier AI Model

An FT analysis finds that despite DeepMind alumni — dubbed the 'DeepMind mafia' — pulling billions into London AI startups, none of Demis Hassabis' former top lieutenants is building a homegrown UK frontier AI model. The piece highlights a central paradox in the UK's AI ecosystem: London is one of the deepest frontier-AI talent pools outside the US, seeded by DeepMind since 2010, yet that talent and capital are flowing into applications and infrastructure startups rather than the frontier model race.