Google has disbanded the award-winning AlphaFold team at DeepMind, reassigning key members to Gemini-focused projects while others have departed for rival Anthropic. The program, which accurately predicts three-dimensional protein structures from amino acid sequences in minutes rather than years, has been instrumental in accelerating drug discovery and understanding neurodegenerative diseases.

Launched in 2018, AlphaFold solved the 50-year "protein folding problem" and was recognized in 2020. By 2021, Nature published its methodology and the complete human proteome predictions. DeepMind then released the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, providing free access to over 200 million protein structure predictions.

In 2024, CEO Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work. Jumper announced his departure to Anthropic in June, followed by several colleagues. DeepMind confirmed staff moves to Gemini projects and Alphabet's drug-discovery spin-off Isomorphic Labs.

VP of Research Pushmeet Kohli stated the strategy has evolved from focusing on grand challenges with concrete goals. This restructuring reflects Google's decision to concentrate resources on developing its flagship AI model.