Event · AI and research
AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol at Go 4–1 (2016)
Two years after Google bought it, DeepMind put its Go program, AlphaGo, against Lee Sedol, one of the world's top players, in a five-game series in Seoul from March 9 to 15, 2016. AlphaGo won 4–1. Lee won the fourth game.
The official images show identifiable real people during the match; the museum does not publish photos of people.
March 9, 2016
Google DeepMind Challenge Match
Event · AI and research · Concluded
History
The announcement of the series, signed by Demis Hassabis, set games for March 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15 at the Four Seasons in Seoul, under Chinese rules, with two hours per player and three 60-second overtime periods. The $1 million prize would go to UNICEF, STEM charities and Go organizations if AlphaGo won.
The program won the first three games. In the fourth, on March 13, Lee won, and Hassabis singled out the South Korean's move 78 as the turning point. In the fifth, on March 15, Lee resigned after 280 moves. Google's post, updated with the result, called the win a milestone for artificial intelligence reached a decade earlier than many predicted.
Dates
What the sources say
| Claim | Record | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Result | AlphaGo 4–1 Lee Sedol | 1 · Confirmed by independent sources | [1] primary[2] secondary |
| Game won by Lee | The fourth, on March 13 (move 78) | 3 · Secondary source | [2] secondary |
| Prize | $1 million, donated to UNICEF, STEM and Go | 2 · Single primary source | [1] primary |
| Earlier win | 5–0 over European champion Fan Hui, in October 2015 | 2 · Single primary source | [3] primary |
Historical captures
No archived capture has been located for this record yet.
Sources
- AlphaGo's ultimate challenge: a five-game match against the legendary Lee Sedol — Demis Hassabis — Google, March 8, 2016. Source primary · accessed November 2, 2026 · look for a copy on the Internet Archive
The post was updated with the match result. - Google DeepMind Challenge Match - Lee Sedol v AlphaGo - match report — British Go Association, 2016. Source secondary · accessed November 2, 2026 · look for a copy on the Internet Archive
- AlphaGo — Google DeepMind. Source primary · accessed November 2, 2026 · look for a copy on the Internet Archive
Institutional page with no publication date.
What still needs documenting
- The Nature paper (2016)
- Later versions: AlphaGo Zero and AlphaZero, with their own dates and sources
On GD
GD has followed Google since 2006. Search GD for “AlphaGo” (in Portuguese)
How to cite
"AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol at Go 4–1 (2016)", Google Museum (GD), https://gd.eurisko.com.br/museu/en/collection/alphago-lee-sedol-2016/, CC BY 4.0. Reviewed on November 2, 2026.
ID: alphago-lee-sedol-2016 · Reviewed on November 2, 2026