Just when they believed they were passed over for this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry, two scientists from Google's DeepMind AI research team got the call -- mere minutes before they were announced as honorees.

On Wednesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that Demis Hassabis and John Jumper are recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Hassabis is the CEO of Google’s DeepMind AI unit, while Jumper is a director there.

The award this week of Nobel prizes in chemistry and physics to a small number of artificial intelligence pioneers affiliated with Google has stirred debate over the company's research dominance and how breakthroughs in computer science ought to be recognised.

Two pioneers of artificial intelligence have won the Nobel Prize in physics. John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton were awarded the prize Tuesday for discoveries and inventions that formed the building

For long periods of its history, artificial intelligence has lurked in the hinterland of science, often unloved and unfunded -- but two Nobel prizes in one week suggest its time

AI researchers notched two Nobel Prizes this week, elevating their work and field into the upper echelons of scientific achievement. Why it matters: There's wide debate about whether, and how, AI will transform the world — but this week's recognition underscores the behind-the-scenes ways the technology is already changing science itself.