The Thinking Game: How a DeepMind Documentary Captured 285 Million Views

In just over two months, The Thinking Game—a documentary exploring Google DeepMind and its CEO Demis Hassabis—has amassed over 285 million YouTube views since its November 2025 release. This staggering reach underscores a growing public fascination with artificial intelligence beyond technical specifications, focusing instead on the human ambition driving its advancement.

At the documentary's core is Demis Hassabis, whose journey from chess prodigy to AI pioneer exemplifies the film's exploration of intellect meeting innovation. The documentary traces DeepMind's foundational breakthroughs, like AlphaFold's protein-folding revolution and AlphaGo's historic defeat of a world champion Go player. These milestones, presented through archival footage and candid interviews, frame AI not as abstract algorithms but as tools extending human capability.

Director Mark Johnson, previously known for his NFL films, brings a distinct narrative approach. His sports-documentary background shines through in sequences that frame AI development as a high-stakes competition, complete with tension-building cuts during pivotal moments like AlphaGo's matches. Johnson told the Wall Street Journal that his NFL work taught him to "find the human drama in complex systems," a skill he redirected toward AI's opaque world. The result is an accessible portrayal that avoids jargon, using visual metaphors like neural networks visualized as evolving cityscapes.

The film's appeal lies in its dual focus: Hassabis's personal story—his early AI experiments on an Amiga computer, his Cambridge education—juxtaposed with DeepMind's ethical dilemmas. Scenes showing engineers debating AI safety protocols or grappling with unintended model behaviors resonate with viewers navigating AI's societal impact. This balance between technical achievement and philosophical inquiry likely fueled its viral spread across non-technical audiences.

Critical reception highlights the documentary's timing. Released amid widespread AI adoption yet deepening public skepticism, it offers a nuanced counterpoint to doom-laden narratives. Experts note its portrayal of DeepMind's cautious governance—such as its self-imposed bans on certain AI applications—as pivotal in demystifying industry responsibility.

With 285 million views and counting, The Thinking Game signals a shift: complex technology gains cultural traction when anchored in human stories. As Johnson remarked, "People don't connect with code; they connect with curiosity."