At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis discussed the current state of artificial intelligence (AI) and the timeline for achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). Hassabis emphasized that while AI systems have made significant strides, they remain “jagged” and inconsistent, indicating that reaching superintelligence will require more time.
Hassabis highlighted key limitations in today’s AI models, noting that they lack essential capabilities such as continual learning, long-term coherent planning, and consistent reasoning — all crucial for true AGI. “When I look at the current systems and what’s missing from them being a kind of general intelligence, I would say things like continual learning, learning after they’ve been trained and put out into the world,” he explained. Currently, most AI models are extensively trained before deployment and then remain “frozen,” unable to adapt dynamically based on ongoing real-world experiences.
This inability to learn continuously hampers AI’s potential in practical environments, Hassabis said. He advocates for systems capable of online learning, adapting to specific contexts, and personalizing responses through ongoing interactions — features that current models still struggle to implement reliably.
Hassabis also pointed out that AI’s planning abilities are limited to short-term horizons. While AI can handle immediate tasks well, it lacks the capacity for long-term, multi-year coherent planning akin to human strategies. “They can plan over the short term, but over the longer term, the way that we can plan over years, they don’t really have that capability at the moment,” he stated.
Describing the current landscape as “jagged intelligence,” Hassabis explained that AI can be highly capable in specific domains—such as solving complex mathematical problems—yet still make basic errors depending on phrasing or context. He suggests that true AGI would not display such sharp inconsistencies.
Despite these limitations, Hassabis remains optimistic about AI’s transformative potential. He believes that AGI is within reach, estimating it could emerge within the next five to eight years. “We are at a threshold moment where artificial general intelligence is on the horizon,” he said. “AI is going to be the most transformative technology in human history that’s just on the horizon now, and it is going to affect everybody across the world.”
