Lee Sedol and Demis Hassabis Reunite 10 Years After the "AlphaGo Shock"... "Paving the Way for the AGI Era"

by Lee Myeonghwan

Published 29 Apr.2026 14:16(KST)

Lee Sedol: "Everything changed after AlphaGo... I realized how narrow my perspective was"

"Korea sees the fastest growth in Gemini usage in Asia-Pacific"

"For me, Seoul is where the modern era of artificial intelligence (AI) began. It was here that the incredible progress made over the past 10 years started, following the match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol, 9th dan."

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, who visited Korea, made this statement at the "Google for Korea 2026" event held on the morning of the 29th at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. He meant that since the AlphaGo match that astonished the world 10 years ago, AI has advanced at a rapid pace.

On the morning of the 29th, at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, and Lee Sedol, 9-dan Go master, held a dialogue during the "Google for Korea 2026" event. Google Korea

The event, organized by Google Korea, was held under the theme "The Past 10 Years and Future Direction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)." Google for Korea is Google Korea's annual event, and this year marked its sixth edition. This year's event was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Google DeepMind Challenge Match in 2016, the AI Go program AlphaGo's match against Lee Sedol, 9th dan.

This event aimed not only to highlight how AI technology has transformed Korean society and industry over the past 10 years, but also to share a vision for the future driven by educational innovation in Korea. Attendees included Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind; Yun Gu, President of Google Korea; and Lee Sedol, Distinguished Professor at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), who played against AlphaGo.

Yun Gu, President of Google Korea, described the AlphaGo match 10 years ago as "a symbolic event and a historic milestone in which the potential of AI and human creativity harmonized." Regarding the domestic AI market, he emphasized, "Korea is the fastest-growing market for Gemini usage in the Asia-Pacific region, and 82% of users here define AI as a partner for growth, making Korea an 'AI First Mover' country."

Hassabis, CEO, then shared his thoughts on the 10th anniversary of the AlphaGo match in a conversation with author Cho Seungyeon. He said, "Ten years ago, AlphaGo proved the potential of AI here and signaled that Google was building the technical foundation to solve real-world scientific challenges," adding, "The technologies pioneered by Google through AlphaGo are now paving the way toward artificial general intelligence (AGI)."

Professor Lee recalled his match against AlphaGo as "an incredible stroke of luck that became a turning point in my life." He noted, "Everything changed after the emergence of AI, including AlphaGo. Although I took pride in playing creative Go, facing AlphaGo made me realize how limited my perspective was."

On the morning of the 29th, at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, shook hands with Lee Sedol, 9-dan professional Go player, during the "Google for Korea 2026" event. Photo by Google Korea

Meanwhile, Yun Gu, President of Google Korea, announced the launch of the integrated AI education brand "AI OLLIM." AI OLLIM plans to provide educational programs for youth, developers, and startups alike.

During the presentation session, Carolina Parada, Senior Director of Robotics at Google DeepMind, introduced the robotics AI model "Gemini Robotics ER 1.6." Director Parada explained that, through a partnership with Boston Dynamics, the quadruped robot "Spot" is now equipped with Gemini and has reached a stage where it can understand complex human commands. She also added that, through collaboration with Atlas's humanoid robots, they are aiming to develop the world's top-level robot foundation model.

Next, Hyunjung Choi, Senior Engineering Director at Google DeepMind, introduced the education-specialized AI model "LearnLM," developed in collaboration with educational experts. LearnLM goes beyond providing simple answers and is designed to help learners discover answers on their own.

Prior to the event, a breakfast meeting titled "2026 Leaders AI Roundtable" was held, attended by representatives from Google and major Korean companies. Participants included Karim Ayoub, Vice President of Google DeepMind, as well as representatives from Hyundai Motor Group, LG Electronics, CJ ENM·Olive Young, and GS Retail.

Meanwhile, CEO Hassabis met with President Lee Jaemyung on the 27th and agreed to establish a Google AI Campus in Seoul. This will be the first AI campus outside the United Kingdom, where DeepMind's headquarters are located. Google plans to establish the AI campus in Korea and expand collaborations with academia, researchers, and startups. The AI campus is expected to serve as a hub for AI-based science and technology collaboration with Google DeepMind in connection with "K-Moonshot."