Google DeepMind’s Hassabis Calls AI-Agent Hacks “Early Warning Shots” and Says Major Incidents Could Follow

Recent hacking incidents carried out by AI agents are “early warning shots”, and the world could face major incidents within the next couple of years unless AI systems are made more secure, Google DeepMind co-founder and chair Demis Hassabis said on 14 October 2026.

Hassabis, who is also chief scientist at Google’s parent company Alphabet, was speaking at the International AI Summit in Dublin, Reuters reported. AI agents are AI systems that can take actions on their own, such as browsing websites or running software.

What Hassabis said

“I think these (hacking incidents) are early warning shots for us that systems aren’t that powerful yet, so the incidents aren’t that major,” Hassabis said, according to Reuters.

“But they could be (major) looking into next year and the next couple years if we don’t do more work as an industry, as individual companies and governments on securing these systems.”

Asharq Al-Awsat, which also covered the speech, summed this up as a warning that AI could cause “major” incidents within two years without adequate safeguards.

Learning from biology and nuclear

Hassabis said there was “a lot of work to do” to adopt the kind of safety practices that fields such as biology and the nuclear industry use to protect critical systems, Reuters reported. He said some kind of international standards body would eventually be needed.

He added that such a body would need to be nuanced and nimble so that it does not hold back innovation. “So what you need to do is basically build up dynamically this kind of certification process that is proportionate with the risks as we see it and can quickly change depending on where the technology goes,” he said.

Calls for rules from Microsoft too

At the same conference, Microsoft President Brad Smith said rogue AI behaviour had made 2026 a “sobering year” and that new AI safety laws and rules were urgently needed, Reuters reported. “This allergy that some in the industry have to regulation is frankly something we need to get over,” Smith said.

What this means

• A leading AI lab boss is calling for oversight. Hassabis backs an eventual international standards body and a certification process for AI systems.
• Today’s incidents are a warning, not the peak. He says the risks grow as AI systems become more powerful.
• Rules are still a long way off. Hassabis gave no timeline for a standards body and wants it to be flexible.

Sources

1. Reuters (Padraic Halpin and Foo Yun Chee), “Google Deepmind’s Hassabis Calls AI Hacks ‘Early Warning Shots'”, 14 October 2026, via US News. https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2026-10-14/google-deepminds-hassabis-calls-ai-hacks-early-warning-shots (also via The Star: https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/10/14/google-deepmind039s-hassabis-calls-ai-hacks-039early-warning-shots039)
2. Asharq Al-Awsat, “Google DeepMind Chair: AI Could Cause ‘Major’ Incidents Within 2 Years Without Safeguards”, 14 October 2026. https://english.aawsat.com/technology/5329476-google-deepmind-chair-ai-could-cause-major-incidents-within-2-years-without

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