Both Ian Hogarth, the chair of the newly established AI Safety Institute by the U.K. government and the former founder of the music startup Songkick, and Matt Clifford, the AI advisor to the government and co-founder of the extremely early-stage investor Entrepreneur First, received Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) awards for their contributions to AI.

Magnum Opus

Born in London in 1976, Hassabis became a multi-talented prodigy and became a master chess player by the time he was a teenager. After graduating from the University of Cambridge with first-class honors in computer science, he went on to work as the lead programmer at the renowned British video game developer Bullfrog Productions. He also held a number of positions in computer science and artificial intelligence before earning a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from University College London (UCL).

Hassabis launched London-based DeepMind in 2010 with Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman, whom Microsoft hired this week from AI firm Inflection AI.

In 2017, Hassabis received a CBE for his "services to science and technology" at DeepMind, following a string of notable successes, such as creating an AI system that defeated the world champion in the strategy board game Go. Nevertheless, after agreeing to data-sharing agreements with the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom, the corporation also courted criticism. After seven years, it's significant that his knighthood was given in recognition of his contributions to "artificial intelligence," a sector that has gained enormous traction in the last 18 months because to innovations like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

With the help of programs like the AI Safety Summit that it convened in England last November, the U.K. has been keen to take the lead in the AI revolution. With DeepMind being among the UK's top AI exporters, it is also among the top AI nations in the world in terms of R&D spending, trailing only the United States and China. In the competition for supremacy in artificial intelligence, DeepMind has become one of Google's most valuable acquisitions since the company acquired it in 2014 for more than $500 million. In addition to Google Research, DeepMind is the brains behind Gemini, Google's answer to OpenAI's GPT-branded line of large language models.

Therefore, it seems natural that the United Kingdom would want to pay tribute to one of its most well-known AI leaders. Jonathan "Jony" Ive of Apple was one of the other well-known tech industry knights, having been awarded the title in 2011 for "services to design and enterprise."

Knighthoods were traditionally granted for military accomplishments in bygone ages, but these days they are frequently given for services and accomplishments of national significance, which might include advancements in technology, science, athletics, or entertainment. Members of Parliament, government agencies, prime ministers, or even members of the public can suggest someone for a knighthood; however, the head of state, who is the monarch or queen in power at the moment, has the final say in who gets one.

The recipient gains the social and cultural prestige of being able to prefix their name with "Sir," but they do not receive any significant benefits as a result of their knighthood.