# The 100 most influential people in AI in 2026: interesting facts

Everyone on TIME's 2026 TIME100 AI list (https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/), researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-10-30. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai

## Patterns

- Worked at: Google or DeepMind 13, OpenAI 10, Meta 7, Anthropic 5, Amazon 3, IBM 3 (internships not counted).
- Studied at: Stanford University 13, Harvard University 8, MIT 8, UC Berkeley 6, Columbia University 5, Princeton University 4. 34 have a PhD.
- 10 worked at OpenAI: still at OpenAI: Mark Chen, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Peter Steinberger; now at Anthropic: Dario Amodei, Daniela Amodei, Jack Clark; now at Thinking Machines Lab: Mira Murati; now at Safe Superintelligence: Ilya Sutskever; now at METR: Beth Barnes.
- Of 63 with a published birthplace, 35 were born outside the United States.

## Worked together before

- Azalia Mirhoseini and Anna Goldie: Built the AI that lays out Google's TPU chips together at Google Brain, moved to Anthropic and then Google DeepMind together, and co-founded Ricursive Intelligence in 2025.
- Dario Amodei and Ilya Sutskever: Colleagues at OpenAI from 2016 to 2020. Each has since left to run a rival lab: Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence.
- Daniel Nadler and Mikey Shulman: Shulman was head of machine learning at Kensho, the AI company Nadler co-founded, before starting the AI music app Suno.
- Marian Croak and Yann LeCun: Both worked at AT&T's Bell Labs through the 1990s, long before either worked on AI at Google or Meta.
- Elon Musk and Mira Murati: Murati was a product manager on the Model X at Musk's Tesla from 2013 to 2016, then joined OpenAI, which Musk had co-founded.
- Elon Musk and Michael Truell: Cursor, the coding tool Truell co-founded, became part of Musk's SpaceX in 2026.
- Greg Brockman and Daniela Amodei: Overlapped at Stripe, where he was CTO, and again at OpenAI before she left to co-found Anthropic.
- Sam Altman and Geoff Ralston: Ralston followed Altman as president of Y Combinator in 2019, when Altman left to run OpenAI.
- Ali Ghodsi and Andy Konwinski: Co-founded Databricks in 2013. Konwinski went on to co-found Perplexity as well.
- Yann LeCun and Joëlle Pineau: Worked side by side in Meta's AI research lab until both left in 2025, she for Cohere and he to found his own lab.
- Arvind Krishna and Darío Gil: Gil spent two decades at IBM Research, which he led, before becoming the US Energy Department's under secretary for science.
- Pat Grady and Alfred Lin: Run Sequoia Capital together, one of the biggest investors in AI companies.

## Leaders

### Mark Chen

Chief Research Officer, OpenAI. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Before joining OpenAI, he was a quant trader at firms including Jane Street; at OpenAI he led the teams behind Codex and DALL-E and worked on Image GPT. ([event.technologyreview.com](https://event.technologyreview.com/emtech-mit-2023/speaker/901826/mark-chen))

- Education: Mathematics with computer science, MIT, 2012 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markchen90))
- Career: OpenAI (Chief Research Officer, 2018 to now); Integral Technology (Partner, Quantitative Research, 2016–2018); Tech Square Trading (Quantitative Research, 2012–2016) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markchen90), [openai.com](https://openai.com/index/leadership-updates-march-2025/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mark-chen-sam-altman-greg-brockman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/mark-chen

- Spent six years as a quantitative trader in finance, ending as a partner at a New York trading firm, before joining OpenAI in 2018. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markchen90))
- Was first-listed author on the 2021 paper that introduced Codex and the HumanEval coding benchmark, alongside 57 co-authors. ([latent.space](https://latent.space/wiki/mark-chen/))
- Led a team that taught a transformer to handle images by treating pixels as tokens, first shipped as ImageGPT in 2020. ([innovatorsunder35.com](https://www.innovatorsunder35.com/the-list/mark-chen/))
- After OpenAI agents breached containment in 2026, he said the lab moved 5% to 10% of its computing power from training new models to safety monitoring. ([technologyreview.com](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/30/1145339/were-not-going-to-shoot-ourselves-in-the-foot-over-hugging-face-says-openais-chief-research-officer/amp/))
- Coaches the US team at the International Olympiad in Informatics, the world's top high school programming contest. ([x.com](https://x.com/markchen90))
- Estimates his research teams have brought OpenAI "80% of the way" to artificial general intelligence. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mark-chen-sam-altman-greg-brockman/))

### Sam Altman

CEO, OpenAI. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. OpenAI's board fired him in November 2023, and he was back in charge five days later after more than 700 of 770 employees threatened to quit. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))

- Born: 1985-04-22, Chicago, Illinois, United States ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman))
- Education: attended, no degree, Computer science, Stanford University ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- Career: OpenAI (CEO, 2015 to now); Hydrazine Capital (Co-founder, 2012 to now); Y Combinator (President, 2011–2019); Loopt (Co-founder and CEO, 2005–2012) ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mark-chen-sam-altman-greg-brockman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/sam-altman

- Left Stanford after two years to build Loopt, a location-sharing app he started at 19 and sold for $43.4 million in 2012. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- OpenAI's board fired him in November 2023; he was back five days later after more than 700 of 770 staff threatened to quit. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- Ran Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019; the accelerator had funded about 1,900 companies when he left. ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman))
- Credits poker with teaching him how to make decisions with very imperfect information. ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman))
- Co-founded Merge Labs in 2026, a brain-computer interface lab, years after writing an essay about humans merging with machines. ([openai.com](https://openai.com/index/investing-in-merge-labs/))
- Stepped down as chair of nuclear company Oklo in 2025 and fusion company Helion in 2026 as OpenAI sought power deals with them. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/23/sam-altman-openai-fusion-energy-board-helion/))

### Greg Brockman

President, OpenAI. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. OpenAI's president dropped out of MIT in 2010 to join Stripe, and became the payments company's first CTO in 2013. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Brockman))

- Born: 1987-11-29, Thompson, North Dakota, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Brockman))
- Education: attended, no degree, Computer science, MIT, 2010; attended, no degree, Mathematics and computer science, Harvard University, 2009 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Brockman), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thegdb), [ai.engineer](https://ai.engineer/speakers/greg-brockman))
- Career: OpenAI (President and co-founder, 2015 to now); Stripe (CTO, 2010–2015) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Brockman), [ai.engineer](https://ai.engineer/speakers/greg-brockman), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thegdb))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mark-chen-sam-altman-greg-brockman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/greg-brockman

- Won a silver medal at the 2006 International Chemistry Olympiad while in high school in North Dakota. ([gregbrockman.com](https://gregbrockman.com/))
- His high school math paper on Ducci sequences placed 6th in the 2007 Intel Science Talent Search. ([gregbrockman.com](https://gregbrockman.com/))
- Only started programming seriously in a gap year after high school, after reading Alan Turing's paper on computing machinery and intelligence. ([blog.gregbrockman.com](https://blog.gregbrockman.com))
- Dropped out of MIT to join Stripe as an early engineer and, as CTO, helped it grow from 4 people to about 250. ([gregbrockman.com](https://gregbrockman.com/))
- OpenAI began as an idea over an August 2015 dinner with Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Brockman and a few others. ([blog.gregbrockman.com](https://blog.gregbrockman.com))
- Wrote that for OpenAI's first three years he wanted to become a machine learning expert but made little progress. ([blog.gregbrockman.com](https://blog.gregbrockman.com))

### Elon Musk

CEO, SpaceX. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. At 12, he sold Blastar, a game he had written in BASIC, to PC and Office Technology magazine for about $500. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk))

- Born: 1971-06-28, Pretoria, South Africa ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk), [britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Elon-Musk))
- Education: BA, Physics, University of Pennsylvania; BS, Economics (Wharton), University of Pennsylvania; attended, no degree, Applied physics and materials science (PhD), Stanford University, 1995 ([biography.com](https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/elon-musk), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk))
- Career: SpaceX (CEO and CTO, 2002 to now); Tesla (CEO); US government (Advisor to the President, de facto head of DOGE, 2025); PayPal (Co-founder); Zip2 (Co-founder) ([unifygtm.com](https://www.unifygtm.com/insights/executives/spacex-ceo), [britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Elon-Musk), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/elon-musk/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/elon-musk

- Enrolled in Stanford's applied physics PhD program in 1995 and quit after two days to start an internet company. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk))
- Taught himself to code as a boy and at 12 sold a space shooter game he wrote, Blastar, to a South African computer magazine. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk))
- Folded his AI company xAI into SpaceX in February 2026 at a $250 billion valuation; the unit was later renamed SpaceX Super Intelligence. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceXAI))
- SpaceX ended its first trading day on June 12, 2026 at a $2.1 trillion valuation, the world's sixth-biggest company. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/live-elon-musks-spacex-set-stock-market-trading-after-worlds-biggest-ipo-2026-06-12/))
- Told biographer Walter Isaacson that "AI and robots" will need to fix the US deficit. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/17/elon-musk-doge-walter-isaacson-podcast))

### Dario Amodei

Co-founder, Anthropic. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. In November 2023, OpenAI's board approached him about replacing Sam Altman as CEO. He said no. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei))

- Born: 1983, San Francisco, California, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei))
- Education: PhD, Biophysics, Princeton University, 2011; BS, Physics, Stanford University, 2006; attended, no degree, Physics, Caltech, 2003 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dario-amodei-3934934))
- Career: Anthropic (CEO and co-founder, 2021 to now); OpenAI (Vice President of Research, 2016–2020); Google (Senior Research Scientist, 2015–2016); Baidu (Research Scientist, 2014–2015); Skyline Targeted Proteomics Environment (Software Developer (part-time), 2013–2014); Stanford University (Postdoctoral Scholar, 2011–2014); Applied Minds (Consultant, 2008–2013); Schlumberger (Geophysicist, 2004) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dario-amodei-3934934), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/dario-amodei-daniela-amodei/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/dario-amodei

- Made the USA Physics Olympiad team in 2000, while still at a San Francisco public high school. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei))
- Spent part of 2004 working as a geophysicist at oilfield services firm Schlumberger, between Caltech and Stanford. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dario-amodei-3934934))
- Started as a neuroscientist: his Princeton PhD measured how networks of neurons behave together and won the Hertz Thesis Prize in 2011. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei))
- In November 2023, OpenAI's board approached him about replacing Sam Altman and merging the two companies. He declined both. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Amodei))
- He and Anthropic's other co-founders have each pledged 80% of their personal equity in the company to charity. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/29/anthropic-ceo-dario-amodei-charts-new-direction-for-tech-philanthropy.html))

### Daniela Amodei

Co-founder, Anthropic. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Anthropic's president studied English literature on a flute scholarship and worked on a congressional campaign before joining Stripe as an early employee. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Amodei))

- Born: 1987, San Francisco, California, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Amodei))
- Education: BA, Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2009 ([news.ucsc.edu](https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/04/alumna-and-anthropic-co-founder-daniela-amodei-and-civil-rights-activist-dolores-huerta-named-in-times-100-most-influential-people-of-2026/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-amodei-790bb22a))
- Career: Anthropic (President and co-founder, 2021 to now); OpenAI (VP of Safety and Policy, 2018–2020); Stripe (Risk Manager, 2013–2018); U.S. House of Representatives (Scheduling and Communications, 2013); Matt Cartwright for Congress (Field Director, 2012); IRIS Center, University of Maryland (Business Development, 2010–2011) ([anthropic.com](https://www.anthropic.com/company/leadership), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Amodei), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-amodei-790bb22a))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/dario-amodei-daniela-amodei/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/daniela-amodei

- Went to college on a classical flute scholarship and studied liberal arts and music before graduating in literature. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Amodei))
- Ran field operations for a winning 2012 congressional campaign in Pennsylvania, then briefly handled scheduling and communications for the new congressman in Washington. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Amodei))
- Joined Stripe in 2013 as an early employee, starting as a technical recruiter and later managing risk and underwriting. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-amodei-790bb22a))
- At OpenAI she first managed the team while GPT-2 was being built, then moved into safety and policy. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Amodei))
- Says Anthropic had about 60 people when it built the first version of Claude. ([stripe.com](https://stripe.com/newsroom/stories/anthropic-interview))
- Calls herself a generalist with no law or computer science degree, and says she would major in literature again. ([gsb.stanford.edu](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/daniela-amodei-says-curiosity-underrated))

### Arvind Krishna

CEO and Chairman, IBM. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. IBM's CEO began his career at its research lab in 1990 and spent 18 years there before climbing to the top job. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Krishna))

- Born: 1962-11-23, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Krishna))
- Education: PhD, Electrical engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1991; BTech, Electrical engineering, IIT Kanpur, 1985 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Krishna))
- Career: IBM (Chairman and CEO, 1990 to now) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Krishna), [newsroom.ibm.com](https://newsroom.ibm.com/Arvind-Krishna), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvindkrishna))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/arvind-krishna/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/arvind-krishna

- Has spent his entire career at IBM, starting in 1990 as a researcher at its Watson lab and staying in research for 18 years. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Krishna))
- Helped create the world's first commercial wireless system and founded IBM's security software business. ([newsroom.ibm.com](https://newsroom.ibm.com/Arvind-Krishna))
- Wired named him one of 25 geniuses creating the future of business in 2016, for his early work on blockchain. ([newsroom.ibm.com](https://newsroom.ibm.com/Arvind-Krishna))
- Was the main architect of IBM's $34 billion purchase of Red Hat in 2019, the largest acquisition in the company's history. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Krishna))
- After IBM shares fell 25% in one day in July 2026, he told investors: "We did not adapt and move quickly enough." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/arvind-krishna/))
- Bets that AI models will become interchangeable and that 90% of the value will go to companies building applications on top of them. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/arvind-krishna/))

### Lila Ibrahim

Chief AI Readiness Officer, Google DeepMind. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Before running operations at Google DeepMind, she started out as a design engineer on Intel's Pentium chip. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Ibrahim))

- Education: BS, Electrical and computer engineering, Purdue University, 1993 ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/lila-ibrahim/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/librahim))
- Career: DeepMind (Chief Operating Officer; Chief AI Readiness Officer, 2018 to now); Coursera (President and Chief Operating Officer, 2013–2017); Kleiner Perkins (Senior Operating Partner, 2010–2014); Intel (General Manager, Emerging Markets Platform Group, 1993–2010) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Ibrahim), [team4tech.org](https://team4tech.org/people/lila-ibrahim/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/librahim))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/lila-ibrahim/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/lila-ibrahim

- Started at Intel in 1993 as a design engineer on the Pentium chip, and a decade later was chief of staff to CEO Craig Barrett. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Ibrahim))
- Left chips for online education, serving as Coursera's president and then its chief business and operating officer from 2013 to 2017. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Ibrahim))
- Co-founded Team4Tech, a nonprofit that pairs tech volunteers with education projects, and is now its chair emerita. ([team4tech.org](https://team4tech.org/people/lila-ibrahim/))
- In 2023 she signed the one-line statement calling AI extinction risk a global priority, alongside DeepMind founders Demis Hassabis and Shane Legg. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Ibrahim))
- On her own AI use: "AI can help automate all of my tasks, but it cannot automate my Tuesdays." ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/06/google-deepmind-ai-risks-lila-ibrahim.html))

### Liang Rubo

Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO, Bytedance. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. ByteDance's CEO roomed with founder Zhang Yiming at Nankai University and was the company's head of human resources when he was named CEO in 2021. ([aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/20/bytedance-ceo-steps-down-chooses-college-roommate-as-successor))

- Born: 1983, Yichun, Jiangxi, China ([zh.wikipedia.org](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/梁汝波))
- Education: BS, Software engineering, Nankai University, 2005 ([zh.wikipedia.org](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/梁汝波))
- Career: ByteDance (Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, 2012 to now); 99fang.com (Co-founder, Technical Director, 2009–2012); Accelicon Technologies (Principal Engineer, 2005–2009) ([bytedance.com](https://www.bytedance.com/corporate-governance/rubo-liang), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Rubo), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubo-liang-54744824), [yespress.io](https://yespress.io/liang-rubo))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/liang-rubo/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/liang-rubo

- Met ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming as a freshman roommate at Nankai University in 2001; the two shared a dorm and one desktop computer. ([yespress.io](https://yespress.io/liang-rubo))
- In 2012 he and Zhang ran a real estate app by day and built the news app Toutiao by night from a rented Beijing apartment. ([kr-asia.com](https://kr-asia.com/liang-rubo-the-executor-and-former-roommate-of-zhang-yiming-ready-to-take-over-as-ceo-at-bytedance))
- Was running ByteDance's human resources when Zhang named him CEO in 2021, at age 38. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-bytedance-co-founder-zhang-yiming-step-down-ceo-2021-05-20/))
- In a 2024 speech he scolded staff for only starting to talk about ChatGPT in 2023, and cited a task cut from 1,000 man-days to 15 after review. ([fortune.com](https://fortune.com/asia/2024/02/01/bytedance-ceo-liang-rubo-memo-to-employees-missed-ai-wave-tencent-pony-ma-alibaba-jd/))
- Told staff in August 2026 that the gap between ByteDance's language models and leading overseas rivals was widening, a rare admission. ([finance.biggo.com](https://finance.biggo.com/news/d7fb8462-09c6-4356-afda-68ae5e2fb5b5))
- He and Zhang gave their old university 200 million yuan (about $28 million) in 2024 for math research. ([scmp.com](https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3275281/bytedances-low-profile-founders-donate-us28-million-alma-mater-nankai-university))

### A.G. Sulzberger

Publisher and Chairman, The New York Times Co.. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. The New York Times publisher once wrote about the last place still developing Kodachrome film, and the story became a 2017 movie. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger))

- Born: 1980-08-05, Washington, D.C., United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger), [reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/new-york-times-publisher-g-sulzberger-our-industry-needs-think-bigger))
- Education: BA, Political science, Brown University, 2003 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger), [brownalumnimagazine.com](https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2019-07-08/public-enemy-no-1))
- Career: The New York Times (Publisher and Chairman, 2009 to now); The Oregonian (Reporter, 2006–2009) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger), [msutoday.msu.edu](https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/09/presidential-speaker-series-ag-sulzberger))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/a-g-sulzberger/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/a-g-sulzberger

- After graduating from Brown he went to the Galapagos Islands to help monitor the lobster catch and improve his Spanish. ([brownalumnimagazine.com](https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2019-07-08/public-enemy-no-1))
- Spent three years as a reporter at The Oregonian, writing more than 300 stories including exposés of a county sheriff's misconduct. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger))
- His 2010 Times story about the last place on earth still developing Kodachrome film became the basis for the 2017 movie Kodachrome. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger))
- Was lead author of the Times' 97-page 2014 Innovation Report on going digital, which leaked to BuzzFeed News. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Sulzberger))
- Is the sixth member of his family to run the Times since his ancestor Adolph Ochs bought the paper in 1896. ([reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/new-york-times-publisher-g-sulzberger-our-industry-needs-think-bigger))
- Says spending upwards of $20 million on one legal fight, the Times' AI copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, is the cost of defending journalism. ([wired.com](https://www.wired.com/story/the-big-interview-podcast-a-g-sulzberger-new-york-times/))

### Hock Tan

CEO, Broadcom. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Broadcom's CEO was once a vice president at Commodore, the 1980s home computer maker founded by Jack Tramiel. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan))

- Born: Penang, Malaya ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan))
- Education: MS, Mechanical engineering, MIT, 1975; BS, Mechanical engineering, MIT, 1975; MBA, Harvard University ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hock-tan))
- Career: Broadcom (President and CEO, 2006 to now); Integrated Circuit Systems (President and CEO, 1994–2005); Commodore International (Vice President of Finance, 1992–1994); Pacven Investment (Managing Director and co-founder); Hume Industries (Director); PepsiCo (Finance roles); General Motors (Finance roles) ([broadcom.com](https://www.broadcom.com/company/about-us/executives/hock-e-tan), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/hock-tan/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/hock-tan

- Left Penang for MIT on a scholarship in 1971 and earned both a bachelor's and a master's in mechanical engineering in 1975. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan))
- Worked in finance at General Motors and PepsiCo, then went home to Malaysia and later ran a Singapore venture capital firm he co-founded. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan))
- Was vice president of finance at Commodore, the home computer maker, from 1992 to 1994. ([broadcom.com](https://www.broadcom.com/company/about-us/executives/hock-e-tan))
- Bid $117 billion for rival Qualcomm in 2017, which would have been the biggest tech deal ever, until the US government blocked it in 2018. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_Tan))
- Broadcom's custom AI chip business started with Google, co-developing the tensor processing units first deployed in 2015. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/hock-tan/))
- Compared companies' AI spending to a kid who burns $10 of arcade tokens in 10 minutes and learns nothing. ([qz.com](https://qz.com/broadcom-ceo-hock-tan-ai-investors-casino-gamblers-101226))

### Arvind Raman

Acting head, U.S. CAISI; Director, NIST. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. The director of NIST, the US standards agency, is a mechanical engineer whose research has focused on atomic force microscopes. ([nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/people/arvind-raman))

- Born: India ([aip.org](https://www.aip.org/fyi/trump-nominates-engineer-arvind-raman-as-next-nist-director))
- Education: PhD, Mechanical engineering, UC Berkeley, 1999; MS, Mechanical engineering, Purdue University, 1993; BTech, Mechanical engineering, IIT Delhi, 1991 ([nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/people/arvind-raman), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvind-raman-88b20a6a))
- Career: NIST (Director of NIST; acting head of CAISI, 2026 to now); Purdue University (John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering, 2000–2026) ([nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/07/arvind-raman-confirmed-18th-nist-director), [executivegov.com](https://www.executivegov.com/articles/caisi-director-chris-fall-resignation-arvind-raman), [nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/people/arvind-raman), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvind-raman-88b20a6a))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/arvind-raman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/arvind-raman

- A mechanical engineer by training, he built his research career on atomic force microscopes, which image and measure materials at the nanoscale. ([nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/people/arvind-raman))
- Worked with NIST nanotechnology researchers from early in his career, decades before he was picked to run the agency. ([nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/people/arvind-raman))
- As Purdue's engineering dean, oversaw a college that grants more engineering degrees a year than any other university, with tuition frozen for 14 years. ([nist.gov](https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/07/arvind-raman-confirmed-18th-nist-director))
- Sworn in as NIST director on June 30, 2026; three weeks later he also took over the US AI testing centre after its director quit. ([executivegov.com](https://www.executivegov.com/articles/caisi-director-chris-fall-resignation-arvind-raman))
- On the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation: "We are not regulatory by any means." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/arvind-raman/))
- Led the US delegation at the 2026 world conference on weights and measures, which set a 2030 target for redefining the second. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/arvind-raman-88b20a6a_time-is-taking-a-giant-leap-forward-by-activity-7517232064556060672-SASl))

### Jeff Bezos

Founder, Amazon; Co-founder and Co-CEO, Prometheus. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Four years after stepping down as Amazon CEO, he is a CEO again, co-running an AI lab that raised $18 billion in its first seven months. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/11/project-prometheus-bezos-bajaj-live-updates.html))

- Born: 1964-01-12, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos))
- Education: BSE, Engineering, Princeton University, 1986 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos))
- Career: Prometheus (Co-founder and Co-CEO, 2025 to now); Blue Origin (Founder, 2000 to now); Amazon (Founder, President and CEO, 1994–2021) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(company)), [cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/11/project-prometheus-bezos-bajaj-live-updates.html), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/jeff-bezos/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/jeff-bezos

- Was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos))
- Worked on Wall Street for about eight years after Princeton, then started Amazon as an online bookstore on a 1994 road trip from New York to Seattle. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos))
- Flew to space in 2021 aboard his own company's rocket, Blue Origin's NS-16 mission. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos))
- Four years after handing over Amazon's CEO job, he took an operating role again as co-CEO of Prometheus, an AI lab for engineering physical products. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(company)))
- Prometheus launched with $6.2 billion in November 2025 and raised another $12 billion at a $41 billion valuation seven months later. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/11/project-prometheus-bezos-bajaj-live-updates.html))
- Describes the goal of Prometheus as building "an artificial general engineer" for designing physical objects. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/11/project-prometheus-bezos-bajaj-live-updates.html))

### Moustapha Cissé

Founder and CEO, Kera Health Platforms. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. His AI health insurer in Senegal runs entirely through WhatsApp and approves claims within 30 seconds; providers there usually wait 120 days to be paid. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/moustapha-cisse/))

- Born: Senegal ([ifc.org](https://www.ifc.org/en/interviews/2024/healthcare-more-than-any-other-industry-is-a-business-of-partnerships), [healthdata.org](https://www.healthdata.org/about/people/moustapha-cisse))
- Education: PhD, Machine learning, Pierre and Marie Curie University, 2014; Master's, Artificial intelligence, Pierre and Marie Curie University, 2010; Mathematics and physics, Gaston Berger University ([healthdata.org](https://www.healthdata.org/about/people/moustapha-cisse), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/moustapha-cisse))
- Career: Kera Health Platforms (Founder and CEO, 2023 to now); AIMS (Professor of AI; Founder and Director, AMMI, 2018 to now); Google (Head of Google AI Center, Accra, 2018–2023); Meta (Research Scientist, 2016–2018) ([financialafrik.com](https://www.financialafrik.com/en/2025/06/17/senegal-kera-health-raises-10-million-to-revolutionize-access-to-healthcare/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/moustapha-cisse), [healthdata.org](https://www.healthdata.org/about/people/moustapha-cisse), [ifc.org](https://www.ifc.org/en/interviews/2024/healthcare-more-than-any-other-industry-is-a-business-of-partnerships))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/moustapha-cisse/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/moustapha-cisse

- At 19 he became very sick after being misdiagnosed, which made him curious about how healthcare fails and led him to math, physics and AI. ([ifc.org](https://www.ifc.org/en/interviews/2024/healthcare-more-than-any-other-industry-is-a-business-of-partnerships))
- In 2018 he set up and led Google's first engineering site and AI research team in Africa, in Accra, Ghana. ([ifc.org](https://www.ifc.org/en/interviews/2024/healthcare-more-than-any-other-industry-is-a-business-of-partnerships))
- Founded the African Masters of Machine Intelligence, the continent's first graduate program in AI, backed by both Facebook and Google. ([medium.com](https://medium.com/@moustaphacisse/introducing-the-african-masters-of-machine-intelligence-at-aims-9441b4346a55))
- His AI health insurer Sura approves claims in about 30 seconds; Senegalese providers usually wait 120 days to be paid. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/moustapha-cisse/))
- Sura has no app and barely a website: every customer interaction runs through WhatsApp. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/moustapha-cisse/))
- Wants to take Sura to the US and beyond, "because the need is the same everywhere." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/moustapha-cisse/))

### Josh Payne

Founder and CEO, Nscale. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. He dropped out of high school to work three years as a coal miner in Australia; now his AI data-centre company is going public at a target $30 billion valuation. ([europeancapitalist.com](https://europeancapitalist.com/this-ceo-went-from-coal-mines-to-a-30-billion-ai-data-center-ipo-investors-arent-convinced-yet/))

- Born: 1993, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia ([certifiedstrategic.com](https://certifiedstrategic.com/insights/josh-payne-nscale-arkon-energy-melbourne-bitcoin-miner-nyse))

- Career: Nscale (Founder and CEO, 2023 to now); Arkon Energy (Founder and Executive Chairman, 2020–2023) ([afr.com](https://www.afr.com/technology/nscale-founder-joshua-payne-in-line-for-near-500m-ipo-pay-day-20260921-p60z30), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-payne), [computerweekly.com](https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Nscale-explained-Everything-you-need-to-know))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/josh-payne/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/josh-payne

- Left school at 17 and took a job at a coal mine in Australia, with no university degree. ([regolith.com](https://regolith.com/news/nscale-ipo-josh-payne-ai-data-centers-163))
- Spent about three years underground on twelve-hour shifts, reading entrepreneurship books on his breaks. ([entrepreneurplus.co.uk](https://entrepreneurplus.co.uk/how-nscales-founder-ended-up-building-uks-ai-infrastructure/))
- His first big company mined bitcoin on cheap hydropower in Norway and the US, reaching 330 megawatts and $110 million raised by late 2023. ([europeancapitalist.com](https://europeancapitalist.com/this-ceo-went-from-coal-mines-to-a-30-billion-ai-data-center-ipo-investors-arent-convinced-yet/))
- Filed to list Nscale on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2026, two years and four months after spinning it out. ([certifiedstrategic.com](https://certifiedstrategic.com/insights/josh-payne-nscale-arkon-energy-melbourne-bitcoin-miner-nyse))
- Nscale says it has signed $103 billion in contracts, but as of August 2026 had delivered 55 megawatts of computing power. ([europeancapitalist.com](https://europeancapitalist.com/this-ceo-went-from-coal-mines-to-a-30-billion-ai-data-center-ipo-investors-arent-convinced-yet/))
- Predicts the biggest companies of the next five years will be AI-native, "and I very much intend to be one of them." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/josh-payne/))

### Larry Ellison

Co-founder, CTO, and Executive Chairman, Oracle. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. A college dropout whose early project was a CIA database code-named Oracle, he put $1,200 of his own money into the company that became Oracle in 1977. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))

- Born: 1944-08-17, New York City, New York, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))
- Education: attended, no degree, University of Chicago; attended, no degree, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison), [forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Career: Oracle (Co-founder, CEO, now Executive Chairman and CTO, 1977 to now); Ampex (Programmer) ([oracle.com](https://www.oracle.com/corporate/executives/larry-ellison/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/larry-ellison/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/larry-ellison

- Never finished college and started out building databases for the CIA. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Put up $1,200 of the $2,000 that he and two partners invested in Software Development Laboratories, the 1977 startup that became Oracle. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))
- Ran Oracle as CEO for 37 years before handing over the job in 2014; he still serves as its chief technology officer. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Bought nearly all of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million in 2012, and owns about 98% of its land. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Under Oracle's Stargate deal, OpenAI is set to pay Oracle more than $82 million a day starting in fiscal 2028. ([cloudwars.com](https://cloudwars.com/ai/larry-ellison-and-oracle-beat-microsoft-for-largest-tech-contract-ever-100-billion-openai-stargate-deal/))
- Has argued that the Stargate data centres could lead to AI-designed mRNA vaccines against cancer. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_LLC))

### He Tingbo

Director, Huawei. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. After US sanctions hit Huawei, China's 'chip queen' told staff in a 2019 letter that her chip unit was building a backup lifeline for Huawei and the whole country. ([english.aaj.tv](https://english.aaj.tv/news/330459486))

- Born: 1969, Changsha, Hunan, China ([zh.wikipedia.org](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E5%BA%AD%E6%B3%A2))
- Education: Master's, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications ([zh.wikipedia.org](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E5%BA%AD%E6%B3%A2))
- Career: Huawei (Board Director; President, Semiconductor Business Department, 1996 to now) ([huawei.com](https://www.huawei.com/en/executives/board-of-directors/he-tingbo), [zh.wikipedia.org](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E5%BA%AD%E6%B3%A2))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/he-tingbo/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/he-tingbo

- Joined Huawei as an engineer in 1996, straight after a master's degree at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. ([zh.wikipedia.org](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E5%BA%AD%E6%B3%A2))
- In 1998 she moved to Shanghai to build a wireless chip team from scratch, working on 3G chips. ([english.elpais.com](https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-06-15/he-tingbo-the-woman-who-wants-to-change-the-chip-industry.html))
- Was put in charge of Huawei's chip development in 2003 with a $400 million annual budget, the start of what became HiSilicon. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/huaweis-chip-queen-etches-her-name-chinas-tech-folklore-2026-05-25/))
- When the US blacklisted Huawei in May 2019, she told staff that backup chips her team had built for years would be switched on overnight. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/huaweis-chip-queen-etches-her-name-chinas-tech-folklore-2026-05-25/))
- In 2026 she unveiled the Tau Scaling Law, Huawei's alternative to Moore's Law, saying it was used to design and mass-produce 381 chips in six years. ([huawei.com](https://www.huawei.com/en/news/2026/5/ieee-iscas-tau-scaling))

### Valerii Borovyk

Founder and CEO, First Contact. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. He founded First Contact, maker of the Osa drones likely used in Operation Spiderweb, and says such strikes need sophisticated drones, not cheap $500 FPVs. ([global.espreso.tv](https://global.espreso.tv/sophisticated-drones-not-cheap-fpvs-behind-ukraines-strikes-on-russian-bombers-drone-manufacturer))

- Career: Ukrainian military (Commander, 2022–2024); First Contact (Founder and CEO, from 2014); Alliance New Energy of Ukraine (Chairman of the Board) ([firstcontact.biz](https://firstcontact.biz/), [uatv.ua](https://uatv.ua/en/how-ukraine-s-drone-revolution-shatters-kremlin-plans-interview-with-valeriy-borovyk/), [itarena.ua](https://itarena.ua/speaker/valeriy-borovyk/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerii-borovyk-92584847))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/valerii-borovyk/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/valerii-borovyk

- Worked in senior oil and gas roles and won the UAE's Masdar prize in alternative energy before turning to drones. ([itarena.ua](https://itarena.ua/speaker/valeriy-borovyk/))
- Says his team released Ukraine's first kamikaze drone, the Yatagan, in 2015 and put it forward for military procurement. ([uatv.ua](https://uatv.ua/en/how-ukraine-s-drone-revolution-shatters-kremlin-plans-interview-with-valeriy-borovyk/))
- When Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022 he was serving in a National Guard special forces company, and went on to command a strike drone unit. ([uatv.ua](https://uatv.ua/en/how-ukraine-s-drone-revolution-shatters-kremlin-plans-interview-with-valeriy-borovyk/))
- Says preparation for Operation Spiderweb began 18 months ahead, first for a strike in Moscow, with pilots trained to fly out of narrow windows. ([english.nv.ua](https://english.nv.ua/nation/cobweb-drone-maker-reveals-how-ukraine-s-strike-operation-evolved-from-moscow-plan-50613310.html))
- Says his company prepared 150 drones for Spiderweb and believes 117 hit their targets; Ukraine's security service put the damage at $7 billion. ([english.nv.ua](https://english.nv.ua/nation/cobweb-drone-maker-reveals-how-ukraine-s-strike-operation-evolved-from-moscow-plan-50613310.html))
- Described a drone steered over enemy SIM cards as a flying cellphone with propellers and a warhead. ([english.nv.ua](https://english.nv.ua/nation/cobweb-drone-maker-reveals-how-ukraine-s-strike-operation-evolved-from-moscow-plan-50613310.html))

### Joëlle Pineau

Chief AI Officer, Cohere. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Before leading Meta's AI research lab, she sat in a helicopter cockpit recording her own voice to train a speech system, because no female pilots were available. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))

- Born: 1974, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joelle-pineau-371574141_were-announcing-coheres-first-office-in-activity-7513973822136504321-zLOf))
- Education: PhD, Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2004; MSc, Carnegie Mellon University; BASc, Engineering, University of Waterloo ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))
- Career: Cohere (Chief AI Officer, 2025 to now); Meta (VP AI Research, global lead of FAIR, 2017–2025); McGill University (Professor, from 2004); Natural Resources Canada ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelle-pineau-371574141), [cs.mcgill.ca](https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~jpineau/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/joelle-pineau/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/joelle-pineau

- Played viola in the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))
- As a Waterloo student she helped train a voice recognition system for helicopter pilots, sitting in the cockpit to record her own voice under simulated stress because no female pilots were available. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))
- Her first job was at Canada's natural resources ministry, building models for solar energy use in fish farming. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))
- Her Carnegie Mellon robotics PhD was supervised by Sebastian Thrun, who later led Google's self-driving car project. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))
- As reproducibility chair of NeurIPS 2019 she introduced the reproducibility checklist that paper authors now fill in. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABlle_Pineau))
- Warns that relying on another country's AI models means a critical part of your infrastructure could be "shut off without you having any control." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/joelle-pineau/))

### Matt Garman

CEO, Amazon Web Services. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. He joined Amazon as an intern in 2005 on a project that would become AWS, and 19 years later became its CEO. ([kellogg.northwestern.edu](https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news/blog/2025/11/20/intern-industry-leader-matt-garman-amazon/))

- Born: Scottsdale, United States ([bbntimes.com](https://www.bbntimes.com/technology/matt-garman-from-intern-to-ceo-of-amazon-web-services-aws))
- Education: MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2006; MS, Industrial engineering, Stanford University, 1999; BS, Industrial engineering, Stanford University, 1998 ([kellogg.northwestern.edu](https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news/blog/2025/11/20/intern-industry-leader-matt-garman-amazon/), [ir.aboutamazon.com](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/officers-and-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=80f6622c-efcb-4cce-94a7-591fb3d9a335), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgarman))
- Career: Amazon (CEO, 2006 to now); SideStep (Director of Product Management, 2001–2004); Riffage (Product Manager, 1999–2000) ([ir.aboutamazon.com](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/officers-and-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=80f6622c-efcb-4cce-94a7-591fb3d9a335), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgarman))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/matt-garman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/matt-garman

- Joined Amazon as a summer MBA intern in 2005, recruited by Andy Jassy to help on a new business before AWS had even launched. ([kellogg.northwestern.edu](https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news/blog/2025/11/20/intern-industry-leader-matt-garman-amazon/))
- Spent five years as a product manager at two startups, Riffage and SideStep, before business school. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgarman))
- Was one of the first product managers for EC2, the rent-a-server service that kicked off the cloud computing era. ([platformer.news](https://www.platformer.news/matt-garman-aws-ceo-interview-ai-jobs/))
- Called replacing junior employees with AI "one of the dumbest things I've ever heard." ([platformer.news](https://www.platformer.news/matt-garman-aws-ceo-interview-ai-jobs/))
- Says that when he asked a room of CIOs in 2026 who was seeing real returns from AI, 90% raised their hands, unlike a year earlier. ([aboutamazon.com](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/aws/aws-matt-garman-enterprise-ai-roi-interview-2026))

### Ali Ghodsi

Co-founder and CEO, Databricks. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. An Iranian-born computer scientist who came to Berkeley as a visiting scholar in 2009, he now runs a company valued at $190 billion. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))

- Born: 1978, Iran ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))
- Education: PhD, Distributed computing, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2006; MSc, Computer engineering, Mid Sweden University, 2002; MBA, Logistics and strategic marketing, Mid Sweden University, 2002 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))
- Career: Databricks (Co-founder and CEO, 2013 to now); UC Berkeley (Adjunct Professor, 2015 to now); KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Assistant Professor, 2008–2009); Peerialism (Co-founder) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi), [databricks.com](https://www.databricks.com/company/leadership-team), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alighodsi))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/ali-ghodsi/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/ali-ghodsi

- Finished a master's in computer engineering and an MBA in logistics and marketing at the same Swedish university, both in 2002. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))
- Co-founded Peerialism, a Stockholm startup building peer-to-peer data transfer, and taught at KTH before moving to the US. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))
- Arrived at UC Berkeley in 2009 as a visiting scholar and helped start the Apache Mesos and Apache Spark projects. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))
- Co-invented dominant resource fairness, a way of sharing computing resources that shaped scheduling in systems like Hadoop. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))
- All seven Databricks co-founders started out together in one room at Berkeley's Soda Hall. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alighodsi_from-soda-hall-to-the-football-field-databricks-activity-7508938998439014400-ejak))
- Led Databricks to a $190 billion valuation in an August 2026 funding round of $5 billion. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ghodsi))

### Eddie Wu

CEO, Alibaba. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Alibaba's CEO is one of its co-founders and was the company's technology director when it started in 1999. ([alibabagroup.com](https://www.alibabagroup.com/about-alibaba-leadership-1637927598568767488))

- Born: 1975 ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Wu%20Yongming/18141))
- Education: Information engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 1996 ([alibabagroup.com](https://www.alibabagroup.com/about-alibaba-leadership-1637927598568767488))
- Career: Alibaba (Co-founder and CEO, 1999 to now); Vision Plus Capital (Founder, 2015 to now) ([alibabagroup.com](https://www.alibabagroup.com/about-alibaba-leadership-1637927598568767488), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Wu))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/eddie-wu/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/eddie-wu

- Was one of Alibaba's 19 co-founders and its technology director when the company started in 1999. ([alibabagroup.com](https://www.alibabagroup.com/about-alibaba-leadership-1637927598568767488))
- Served as chief technology officer of payments arm Alipay from 2004 and of shopping site Taobao from 2008. ([alibabagroup.com](https://www.alibabagroup.com/about-alibaba-leadership-1637927598568767488))
- Founded his own venture capital firm, Vision Plus Capital, in 2015 to invest in advanced technology and digital healthcare. ([alibabagroup.com](https://www.alibabagroup.com/about-alibaba-leadership-1637927598568767488))
- In his first 15 months as CEO, Alibaba spent 81 billion yuan on capital investment, up from 34 billion yuan in the months before. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Wu))
- By mid-2026 Alibaba's AI products had grown at triple-digit rates for 12 quarters in a row, passing a $7.3 billion annual run rate. ([alizila.com](https://www.alizila.com/aliviews-eddie-wu-on-alibabas-q1-earnings/))
- Argues machine intelligence is not a substitute for human intelligence but "an entirely different species." ([alizila.com](https://www.alizila.com/aliviews-eddie-wu-shares-alibabas-strategic-full-stack-ai-roadmap-at-the-2026-apsara-conference/))

### Elizabeth Reid

VP and Head of Search, Google. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. Google's head of Search was the first female engineer in its New York office, and started on the team that built Google Local, the foundation for Maps. ([sources.news](https://sources.news/p/liz-reid-google-search-gemini-interview))

- Education: Bachelor's, Computer science, Dartmouth College ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-reid-56356724))
- Career: Google (VP and Head of Search, 2003 to now) ([blog.google](https://blog.google/authors/elizabeth-reid/), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/elizabeth-reid/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/elizabeth-reid/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/elizabeth-reid

- Joined Google in 2003 as the first female engineer in its New York office, when the whole company had fewer than 2,000 employees. ([sources.news](https://sources.news/p/liz-reid-google-search-gemini-interview))
- Spent 17 years on maps, starting on the Google Local team whose work became the foundation of local information in Google Maps. ([jasonhowell.substack.com](https://jasonhowell.substack.com/p/google-vp-of-search-liz-reid-on-what))
- Took over all of Google Search in 2024, just as panic about what ChatGPT would do to Google was cresting. ([sources.news](https://sources.news/p/liz-reid-google-search-gemini-interview))
- Weeks after AI Overviews rolled out in 2024, she publicly acknowledged odd and wrong answers, while noting many viral screenshots were fake. ([blog.google](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/ai-overviews-update-may-2024/))
- Under her, AI Overviews reach more than 2.5 billion people a month, and AI Mode passed 1 billion monthly users within a year of launch. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/elizabeth-reid/))
- Calls what AI is doing to Google Search "expansionary," not zero-sum, because people are asking more questions than ever. ([sources.news](https://sources.news/p/liz-reid-google-search-gemini-interview))

### Nigel Vaz

CEO, Publicis Sapient. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. He says AI turned one client's 10-year migration of legacy COBOL code to Java into a three-year project. ([tearsheet.co](https://tearsheet.co/partner-content/how-ai-is-disrupting-financial-services-and-how-companies-can-respond-with-publicis-sapient-ceo-nigel-vaz/))

- Career: DigitasLBi (Global President, 2016–2017); Publicis Sapient (CEO, from 2000); Internet Solutions (Co-founder and Managing Director, 1996–2000) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvaz), [nigelvaz.com](https://www.nigelvaz.com/about))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/nigel-vaz/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/nigel-vaz

- Before joining Sapient he was an entrepreneur, co-founding a public company in internet consulting and connectivity in the 1990s. ([nigelvaz.com](https://www.nigelvaz.com/about))
- Has spent more than 25 years at the same firm, rising from director at Sapient in 2000 to global CEO of Publicis Sapient in 2019. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvaz))
- Soon after launching Sapient in the UK, he walked away from a client because they disagreed on how its culture needed to change. ([adammendler.com](https://www.adammendler.com/nigel-vaz/))
- Says one client's move off decades-old COBOL code to Java, planned to take 10 years, is now being done in three with AI. ([tearsheet.co](https://tearsheet.co/partner-content/how-ai-is-disrupting-financial-services-and-how-companies-can-respond-with-publicis-sapient-ceo-nigel-vaz/))
- His firm's survey of 1,550 AI decision-makers found 73% use AI regularly at work, but only 10% say it is core to how their business runs. ([adammendler.com](https://www.adammendler.com/nigel-vaz/))
- Says the big AI opportunity is not automating today's work but to "fundamentally reimagine the future of how work gets done." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/nigel-vaz/))

### Michael Intrator

Co-founder and CEO, CoreWeave. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. CoreWeave started as a crypto-mining side project in a natural gas hedge fund's office, then moved to a New Jersey garage. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))

- Born: 1969 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))
- Education: MPA, Public finance (SIPA), Columbia University, 1995; BA, Political science, Binghamton University, 1991 ([coreweave.com](https://www.coreweave.com/leadership/mike-intrator), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-intrator-2383aa57), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))
- Career: CoreWeave (Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, 2017 to now); Hudson Ridge Asset Management (Co-founder and CEO, 2013–2018); Natsource Asset Management (Managing Director, Principal Portfolio Manager, 1998–2014) ([coreweave.com](https://www.coreweave.com/leadership/mike-intrator), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-intrator-2383aa57))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/michael-intrator/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/michael-intrator

- Spent 16 years at Natsource in New York trading carbon credits, then co-founded a natural gas hedge fund. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))
- CoreWeave began in 2016 as a crypto-mining side project on Nvidia GPUs in his hedge fund's Manhattan office, before moving to a New Jersey garage. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))
- During the 2018 crypto crash his team bought thousands of GPUs from miners for pennies on the dollar and made an estimated $80 million mining ethereum. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))
- CoreWeave's first AI job, in 2021, was building a cluster of 96 Nvidia A100 chips for the open research group EleutherAI. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))
- Struggling to raise from Silicon Valley investors, he used CoreWeave's own H100 chips as collateral for a $2.3 billion Blackstone-led loan in 2023. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Intrator))

### Liang Mong Song

Co-CEO, SMIC. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. After 17 years at TSMC, he helped rival Samsung beat TSMC to 14nm chips, then became co-CEO of China's SMIC. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))

- Born: 1952, Taiwan ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))
- Education: PhD, Electrical engineering, UC Berkeley, 1984; MS, Electrical engineering, National Cheng Kung University; BS, Electrical engineering, National Cheng Kung University ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))
- Career: SMIC (Co-Chief Executive Officer, 2017 to now); Samsung (Chief Technology Officer, System LSI; EVP Foundry, 2011–2015); Sungkyunkwan University (Visiting Professor, 2010–2011); National Tsing Hua University (Professor of Electrical Engineering, 2009–2010); TSMC (Senior R&D Director, 1992–2009); AMD (Engineer, until 1992) ([smics.com](https://www.smics.com/en/site/news_read/4578), [smics.com](https://www.smics.com/en/site/about_team), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song), [asiatimes.com](https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/us-curbs-on-tsmc-ex-engineer-liang-wont-hurt-smic/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/liang-mong-song/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/liang-mong-song

- To sit out his TSMC non-compete, he spent 2010 as a visiting professor at Samsung-owned Sungkyunkwan University, actually teaching at Samsung's in-house chip institute. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))
- Passed over for TSMC's R&D vice president job in the 2005 leadership change, he left the company in 2009 after 17 years. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))
- At Samsung he is credited with helping it reach 14nm FinFET chips before his former employer TSMC. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))
- Credited as inventor on nearly 500 TSMC patents, and was one of the company's so-called Six Knights of R&D. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Mong_Song))
- In a 2020 letter he said he had led a team of more than 2,000 engineers that completed SMIC's 7nm chip process. ([livemint.com](https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/a-70-year-old-taiwanese-chip-wizard-is-driving-china-s-tech-ambitions-11659965745667.html))
- Before TSMC he worked as an engineer at AMD on memory chips. ([asiatimes.com](https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/us-curbs-on-tsmc-ex-engineer-liang-wont-hurt-smic/))

## Innovators

### Daniel Nadler

Founder and CEO, OpenEvidence. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. His AI medical search tool, known as ChatGPT for doctors, is used by 40% of US physicians, he told CNBC. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/openevidence-chatgpt-for-doctors-doubles-valuation-to-12-billion.html))

- Born: 1983, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nadler))
- Education: PhD, Harvard University, 2016 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nadler))
- Career: OpenEvidence (Founder and CEO, 2022 to now); Kensho (Co-founder, 2013–2018) ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/openevidence-chatgpt-for-doctors-doubles-valuation-to-12-billion.html), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielnadler), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nadler))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/daniel-nadler/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/daniel-nadler

- Published a book of poetry, Lacunae: 100 Imagined Ancient Love Poems, with Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2016. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nadler))
- Was an executive producer on the film Motherless Brooklyn (2019) and a co-financier and producer of Palmer (2021). ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nadler))
- Co-founded his first AI company, Kensho, in 2013 while still a Harvard PhD student; S&P Global bought it in 2018. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nadler))
- Between companies he went back to reading the classics, studied Ancient Greek again and took drawing lessons from a Royal Academy teacher. ([goldmansachs.com](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/talks-at-gs/daniel-nadler-on-building-an-AI-powered-search-engine-for-medicine))
- Says the images coming out of New York City when COVID hit made it clear his second company would be in medicine. ([goldmansachs.com](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/talks-at-gs/daniel-nadler-on-building-an-AI-powered-search-engine-for-medicine))
- Says 95% of new OpenEvidence users hear about it from another physician, and that more than 40% of US physicians use it. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/openevidence-chatgpt-for-doctors-doubles-valuation-to-12-billion.html))

### Ben Affleck

Actor and filmmaker. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. The Oscar-winning actor says Instagram banned him twice for impersonating himself. ([vanityfair.com](https://www.vanityfair.com/story/ben-affleck-instagram-ban?srsltid=AYCX9vL3VwonluwbuK9WFLPDAhE_mZtRQa5bpyrhh30Tx9LKfknVB7Lq))

- Born: 1972-08-15, Berkeley, California, US ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Affleck))
- Education: attended, no degree, Middle Eastern affairs, Occidental College; attended, no degree, Spanish, University of Vermont ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Affleck))
- Career: Artists Equity (Co-founder and CEO, 2022 to now); Eastern Congo Initiative (Co-founder, 2010 to now); Pearl Street Films (Co-founder, 1996–2022) ([variety.com](https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/ben-affleck-matt-damon-artists-equity-redbird-gerry-cardinale-1235438192/), [artistsequity.com](https://artistsequity.com/team/ben-affleck/), [easterncongo.org](https://easterncongo.org/our-story/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Street_Films))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/ben-affleck/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/ben-affleck

- Acted professionally for the first time at the age of seven. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Affleck))
- Before acting took over, he studied Middle Eastern affairs at Occidental College for a year and a half, after a few months studying Spanish in Vermont. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Affleck))
- Holds two Oscars: one for co-writing Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon, and one for producing Argo, which he also directed and starred in. ([variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/film/features/ben-affleck-interview-animals-batman-movie-stars-damon-1236899199/))
- Says he was banned from Instagram twice for impersonating himself. ([vanityfair.com](https://www.vanityfair.com/story/ben-affleck-instagram-ban?srsltid=AYCX9vL3VwonluwbuK9WFLPDAhE_mZtRQa5bpyrhh30Tx9LKfknVB7Lq))
- Artists Equity, the studio he launched with Matt Damon in 2022, is built around giving crew and talent a bigger share of a film's profits. ([variety.com](https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/ben-affleck-matt-damon-artists-equity-redbird-gerry-cardinale-1235438192/))
- Used AI for lots of things while making his 2026 Netflix thriller Animals, which he directed, co-wrote and starred in. ([deadline.com](https://deadline.com/2026/10/animals-review-ben-affleck-kerry-washington-netflix-1237149370/))

### Stella Li

Executive Vice President, BYD. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. She joined BYD in 1996 to sell its batteries abroad, and became the first woman ever named World Car Person of the Year. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Li))

- Born: 1969, Xiantao, Hubei, China ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Li))
- Education: Bachelor's, Statistics, Fudan University, 1992 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Li))
- Career: BYD (Executive Vice President; CEO of BYD Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, 1996 to now) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-li-08857a41b), [media.byd.com](https://media.byd.com/stella-li), [fortune.com](https://fortune.com/2026/06/15/stella-li-built-byd-into-the-largest-ev-maker-in-the-world-shes-not-done-yet/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/stella-li/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/stella-li

- Started out in international trade at a Chinese state-owned company from 1990 to 1996. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Li))
- Joined BYD in 1996 as its export marketing manager, when founder Wang Chuanfu was still running a small operation. ([fortune.com](https://fortune.com/2026/06/15/stella-li-built-byd-into-the-largest-ev-maker-in-the-world-shes-not-done-yet/))
- Opened BYD's first overseas office in Hong Kong in 1997 and its first European office in Rotterdam in 1999. ([media.byd.com](https://media.byd.com/stella-li))
- In 2002 she won Motorola and Nokia as customers for BYD's batteries, years before the company was known for cars. ([media.byd.com](https://media.byd.com/stella-li))
- Became the first woman named World Car Person of the Year, in 2025. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Li))
- Told Business Insider she wants humanoid robots in every BYD showroom, and sees home and service robots as a huge market. ([businessinsider.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/byd-stella-li-humanoid-robots-car-showroom-sell-evs-2026-6))

### Michael Truell

Co-founder and CEO, Cursor. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. In 2016 he co-created Halite, a programming contest where players build AI bots that battle each other. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halite_AI_Programming_Competition))

- Born: New York City, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Truell))
- Education: Bachelor's, Computer science and mathematics, MIT, 2021 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122))
- Career: SpaceX (AI, 2026 to now); Cursor (Co-founder and CEO, 2022–2026) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-t-5b1bbb122_cursor-is-now-a-part-of-spacex-cursor-activity-7494039398942978049-Fbjx))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/michael-truell/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/michael-truell

- In 2016, two years before starting at MIT, he co-created the AI programming contest Halite and brought it to Two Sigma. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122))
- Spent the summer of 2017 at MIT's Research Science Institute working on probabilistic programming. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122))
- Interned at Google in 2019 on language models for feed ranking, three years before starting Cursor. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122))
- Spent 2020 interning at Octant, a biotech startup, on computational chemistry. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122))
- Announced in August 2026 that Cursor was officially part of SpaceXAI. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-t-5b1bbb122_cursor-is-now-a-part-of-spacex-cursor-activity-7494039398942978049-Fbjx))

### Azalia Mirhoseini

Co-founder, Ricursive Intelligence. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. She helped build an AI that Google used to design its own TPU chips, and now runs a startup where AI designs the chips that power AI. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/))

- Born: Iran ([singjupost.com](https://singjupost.com/transcript-whos-paying-for-the-ai-boom-and-can-it-last-wtf-is-ai/))
- Education: PhD, Electrical and computer engineering, Rice University ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/azalia-mirhoseini-a5308522))
- Career: Ricursive Intelligence (Co-founder and CTO, 2025 to now); Stanford University (Assistant Professor of Computer Science, 2023 to now); DeepMind (Senior Staff Research Scientist, 2023–2025); Anthropic (Member of Technical Staff, 2022–2023); Google (Staff Research Scientist and Manager, 2016–2022) ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/azalia-mirhoseini-a5308522), [azaliamirhoseini.com](https://www.azaliamirhoseini.com/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/azalia-mirhoseini

- Her AlphaChip project was one of the first uses of deep reinforcement learning on a real engineering problem, producing chip layouts in hours. ([azaliamirhoseini.com](https://www.azaliamirhoseini.com/))
- With future co-founder Anna Goldie she built an AI tool that Google used to help design several generations of its TPU chips. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/))
- Helped introduce Mixture-of-Experts architectures for language models, showing efficient training of models with over 130 billion parameters. ([azaliamirhoseini.com](https://www.azaliamirhoseini.com/))
- Still runs a Stanford lab alongside the startup; its KernelBench benchmark has been adopted by Meta, Nvidia and Cognition AI. ([azaliamirhoseini.com](https://www.azaliamirhoseini.com/))
- Ricursive raised a $300 million Series A, including from Nvidia's venture arm, at a $4 billion valuation. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/))
- Describes Ricursive's goal as a loop: AI makes better chips, and those chips power the next generation of AI. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/))

### Anna Goldie

Co-founder, Ricursive Intelligence. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. The AI chip designer she co-led has laid out four generations of Google's TPU chips; now her startup is a frontier AI lab targeting chip design. ([annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))

- Education: PhD, Computer science, Stanford University; MEng, Electrical engineering and computer science, MIT; BS, Computer science, MIT, 2009; BS, Linguistics, MIT, 2009 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adgoldie), [annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))
- Career: Ricursive Intelligence (Founder and CEO, 2025 to now); DeepMind (Senior Staff Research Scientist, 2023–2025); Anthropic (Member of Technical Staff, 2022–2023); Google (Staff Research Scientist / Tech Lead, 2013–2022); TripAdvisor (Software Engineer, 2011–2013) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adgoldie), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/), [annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/anna-goldie

- The AlphaChip system she co-led has been used to lay out four generations of Google's TPU AI chips, plus datacenter CPUs. ([annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))
- Earned a second MIT bachelor's degree in linguistics alongside computer science before moving into language and systems research. ([annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))
- Co-founded and led Google Brain's ML for Systems team, which applied reinforcement learning to computer systems problems like chip design. ([annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))
- Worked on two rival frontier models back to back: Claude as an early Anthropic employee, then Gemini at Google DeepMind. ([annagoldie.com](https://www.annagoldie.com/))
- Wants to cut new chip design from years to months, weeks, maybe even days eventually. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/))
- Ricursive raised a $300 million Series A at a $4 billion valuation, with Nvidia's venture arm among the investors. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/azalia-mirhoseini-anna-goldie/))

### Yang Zhilin

Co-founder and CEO, Moonshot AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. A Pink Floyd devotee, he named his AI lab, Moonshot AI, after the band's album The Dark Side of the Moon. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/yang-zhilin/))

- Born: 1992, Shantou, Guangdong, China ([app001.ftchinese.com](http://app001.ftchinese.com/interactive/288418/en), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Zhilin))
- Education: PhD, Machine learning, Carnegie Mellon University, 2019; BS, Computer science, Tsinghua University, 2015 ([thenationalnews.com](https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/technology/2026/07/17/zhilin-yang-moonshot-ai-kimi/), [magazine.cs.cmu.edu](https://magazine.cs.cmu.edu/ai-research-transforms-industries), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/yang-zhilin/))
- Career: Moonshot AI (Co-founder and CEO, 2023 to now); Recurrent AI (Co-founder, 2016 to now) ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/yang-zhilin/), [businessinsider.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/moonshot-ai-kimi-k3-founder-professor-on-unique-strengths-qualities-2026-7), [reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/moonshot-execs-talks-settle-dispute-with-shareholder-ahead-planned-ipo-people-2026-10-11/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/yang-zhilin/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/yang-zhilin

- Began coding in high school and won first prize in Guangdong's informatics olympiad, which earned him direct admission to university. ([app001.ftchinese.com](http://app001.ftchinese.com/interactive/288418/en))
- Enrolled at Tsinghua in thermal engineering before switching to computer science, where he graduated top of his class in 2015. ([ai-speakers-agency.com](https://ai-speakers-agency.com/news/general-news/speaker-spotlight-yang-zhilin))
- Played drums in a Tsinghua campus band called Splay with future Moonshot co-founder Zhou Xinyu. ([thewirechina.com](https://www.thewirechina.com/2025/09/28/who-is-moonshot-ai/))
- Finished his Carnegie Mellon PhD in four years, and co-wrote the XLNet and Transformer-XL language model papers along the way. ([businessinsider.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/moonshot-ai-kimi-k3-founder-professor-on-unique-strengths-qualities-2026-7))
- Apple tried to recruit him after his PhD and he could have taken a postdoc at Stanford or MIT, but he went back to China to build a company. ([thewirechina.com](https://www.thewirechina.com/2025/09/28/who-is-moonshot-ai/))
- Goes by Kimi in English, and Moonshot's Kimi chatbot is named after him. ([thewirechina.com](https://www.thewirechina.com/2025/09/28/who-is-moonshot-ai/))

### Peter Steinberger

Creator, OpenClaw. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. He made OpenClaw, the open-source personal AI agent that became GitHub's most-starred software project. ([steipete.me](https://steipete.me/about))

- Born: 1986-05-22, Austria ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Steinberger_(programmer)))
- Education: BSc, Computer and information sciences, TU Wien, 2012 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steipete))
- Career: OpenAI (Member of Technical Staff, 2026 to now); OpenClaw (Creator, 2025–2026); Amantus Machina (Founder, 2025–2026); Founders of Europe (Co-founder, 2022–2026); PSPDFKit (Founder and CEO, 2010–2021); Scribd (Senior iOS Developer, 2010–2011); LOYTEC electronics (Software Engineer, 2006–2009) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steipete), [reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/business/openclaw-founder-steinberger-joins-openai-open-source-bot-becomes-foundation-2026-02-15/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Steinberger_(programmer)))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/peter-steinberger/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/peter-steinberger

- OpenClaw started as a weekend hack called WhatsApp Relay, then passed 100,000 GitHub stars and drew 2 million visitors in a single week. ([openclaw.ai](https://openclaw.ai/blog/introducing-openclaw))
- The project was first named Clawd, a pun on Claude with a claw, until Anthropic's legal team asked him to rename it. ([openclaw.ai](https://openclaw.ai/blog/introducing-openclaw))
- Says both Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman made him offers; he picked OpenAI in February 2026 and moved OpenClaw into a foundation. ([businessinsider.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/openais-openclaw-hire-sparks-praise-memes-rivalry-chatter-2026-2))
- Bootstrapped his PDF software company PSPDFKit to a nine-figure exit, then retired before AI pulled him back in. ([steipete.me](https://steipete.me/about))
- As a student he started his university's first Mac and iOS developer course, run with Apple Austria, and tutored teams for over two years. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steipete))
- Says his next mission is to build an agent that even his mum can use. ([steipete.me](https://steipete.me/posts/2026/openclaw))

### Anima Anandkumar

Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Caltech. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. Her lab built an AI weather forecaster that runs 45,000 times faster than standard weather models with the same accuracy. ([tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu](http://tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu/users/anima/))

- Born: Mysore, Karnataka, India ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_Anandkumar))
- Education: PhD, Electrical engineering, Cornell University, 2009; BTech, Electrical engineering, IIT Madras, 2004 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_Anandkumar))
- Career: Accelerated Understanding (Co-founder, 2024 to now); Caltech (Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, 2017 to now); Nvidia (Senior Director of AI Research, 2018–2023); Amazon (Principal Scientist, 2016–2018); UC Irvine (Associate Professor, 2010–2017) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anima-anandkumar), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_Anandkumar), [tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu](http://tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu/users/anima/), [eas.caltech.edu](https://www.eas.caltech.edu/people/anima))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/anima-anandkumar/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/anima-anandkumar

- Her lab's AI weather forecasting runs 45,000 times faster than current weather models with the same accuracy. ([tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu](http://tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu/users/anima/))
- Her group trained the first AI-based high-resolution weather model, FourCastNet. ([anima-ai.org](https://anima-ai.org))
- Her lab's Fourier Neural Operator runs physics simulations at 1,000 times the speed of standard solvers. ([tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu](http://tensorlab.cms.caltech.edu/users/anima/))
- Studied the classical Indian dance Bharatanatyam for many years. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_Anandkumar))
- During her PhD she worked in IBM's networking group on end-to-end service-level transactions. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_Anandkumar))
- Her group used a physics-informed neural network to find evidence that the 3D Euler equations of fluid flow can blow up in finite time. ([anima-ai.org](https://anima-ai.org))

### Mohamed Moussa

Co-founder and CTO, Tarteel. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. Finding it hard to type Arabic to look up Quran verses, he helped build a voice AI app for Quran study that now has 20 million downloads. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mohamed-moussa/))

- Education: BASc, Systems design engineering, University of Waterloo, 2019 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-moussa-8b2baba4))
- Career: Tarteel (Co-founder and CTO, 2018 to now); Meta (Software Engineer, 2019–2020) ([allamericanspeakers.com](https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Mohamed+Moussa/469604), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-moussa-8b2baba4))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mohamed-moussa/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/mohamed-moussa

- Raised near Toronto with English as his first language, he couldn't use an Arabic keyboard to look up Quran verses, and saw voice as the bridge. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mohamed-moussa/))
- Co-founded Tarteel in July 2018 but kept his Facebook engineering job, only joining full-time as CTO in December 2020. ([allamericanspeakers.com](https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Mohamed+Moussa/469604))
- At Facebook he worked on the growth team for Messenger Kids. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-moussa-8b2baba4))
- Tarteel got into MIT's Sandbox accelerator in fall 2019, the same year he finished his engineering degree at Waterloo. ([tarteel.ai](https://tarteel.ai/blog/tarteel-joins-mit--a-new-chapter/))
- Tarteel has 20 million downloads and logged over six million hours of Quran recitation across 180+ countries during Ramadan 2026. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mohamed-moussa/))
- Says he didn't set out to build an AI company, only to solve problems his community had. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mohamed-moussa/))

### Coerte Voorhees

Writer and filmmaker. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. With the family's consent, he used AI to finish the late Val Kilmer's role, which now fills over an hour of his film. ([variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/val-kilmer-ai-as-deep-as-the-grave-trailer-1236722342/))

- Born: Boulder, Colorado, United States ([imdb.com](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6173242/))
- Education: MFA, Film and television production, University of Southern California, 2016; BA, History and classics, Georgetown University, 2012 ([imdb.com](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6173242/))
- Career: First Line Films (Founder, 2016 to now); A Visionary Film (Co-founder) ([firstlinefilmsnm.com](https://www.firstlinefilmsnm.com/new-page))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/coerte-voorhees/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/coerte-voorhees

- The AI-generated Val Kilmer character in his film As Deep as the Grave appears for over an hour of screen time. ([variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/val-kilmer-ai-as-deep-as-the-grave-trailer-1236722342/))
- Cast Kilmer about five years before the actor's 2025 death; COVID shutdowns stretched the production to six years, which led to the AI approach. ([variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/val-kilmer-ai-film-as-deep-as-the-grave-1236691042/))
- His debut feature, The First Line, a thriller about the Parthenon marbles, was shot on location inside the Parthenon in Athens. ([firstlinefilmsnm.com](https://www.firstlinefilmsnm.com/new-page))
- The First Line came out on Netflix in September 2016, the same year he finished his film MFA at USC. ([imdb.com](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6173242/))
- Avoids calling the result a Kilmer performance, saying instead that Val Kilmer influenced this performance. ([cbc.ca](https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/val-kilmer-ai-trailer-9.7166746))
- Told TIME that Netflix, Amazon and Apple had been talking to him about his AI process. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/coerte-voorhees/))

### Brendan Foody

Co-founder and CEO, Mercor. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. His startup Mercor pays over 30,000 contractors more than $1.5 million a day, combined, to help train AI. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/27/ai-hiring-startup-mercor-funding.html))

- Education: attended, no degree, Economics, Georgetown University ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/brendan-foody/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-foody-2995ab10b))
- Career: Mercor (Co-founder and CEO, 2023 to now); Seros (Founder and CEO, 2022) ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/brendan-foody/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-foody-2995ab10b))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/brendan-foody/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/brendan-foody

- Started Mercor with Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, high school friends from the Bellarmine College Preparatory speech and debate team. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercor))
- Mercor began by using AI to interview freelance programmers in India and match them with US companies, before pivoting to supplying experts to train AI. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercor))
- Mercor manages over 30,000 contractors who are paid more than $1.5 million a day combined. ([cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/27/ai-hiring-startup-mercor-funding.html))
- Mercor has hired Larry Summers for economics, Cass Sunstein for law and Eric Topol for medicine as expert contributors. ([conversationswithtyler.com](https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/brendan-foody/))
- At 22 he was the youngest guest ever on the Conversations with Tyler podcast. ([conversationswithtyler.com](https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/brendan-foody/))
- Mercor reportedly took in $614 million in gross revenue in the first half of 2026, 70% more than in all of 2025. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/brendan-foody/))

### Mikey Shulman

Co-founder and CEO, Suno. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. His AI music app makes about 7 million songs a day, a Spotify catalog's worth every two weeks, according to a pitch deck Billboard obtained. ([billboard.com](https://www.billboard.com/pro/suno-ai-music-startup-cover-story/))

- Education: PhD, Physics, Harvard University, 2015; BS, Applied physics, Columbia University, 2009 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyshulman), [sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/podcast/sunos-mikey-shulman-everyone-can-make-music-now))
- Career: Suno (Co-founder and CEO, 2022 to now); MIT (Lecturer, 2018 to now); Kensho (Head of Machine Learning, 2015–2022) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyshulman), [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jan/19/ai-music-company-mikey-shulman-suna), [mikey.one](https://mikey.one/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mikey-shulman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/mikey-shulman

- Did his Harvard physics PhD on quantum computing with solid-state spins. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/podcast/sunos-mikey-shulman-everyone-can-make-music-now))
- Spent years playing in bands, recording and gigging in New York City before starting Suno. ([lsvp.com](https://lsvp.com/stories/sunos-hit-factory/))
- All four Suno co-founders met at Kensho, the Cambridge finance AI company where he was the first machine learning hire. ([lsvp.com](https://lsvp.com/stories/sunos-hit-factory/))
- Before launch, Suno could only make 12.5-second clips that didn't always follow the lyrics; it tested demand with a Discord bot, copying Midjourney. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/podcast/sunos-mikey-shulman-everyone-can-make-music-now))
- Suno generates about 7 million songs a day, equal to the entire Spotify catalog every two weeks. ([billboard.com](https://www.billboard.com/pro/suno-ai-music-startup-cover-story/))
- Says 90% of Suno's daily users make something, which he compares more to gaming than to Spotify. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/podcast/sunos-mikey-shulman-everyone-can-make-music-now))

### Danielle Boyer

Founder, The STEAM Connection. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. She turned down a reported $65 million from a big tech company for the AI she built to teach her endangered language. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/danielle-boyer/))

- Career: The STEAM Connection (Founder and CEO, 2019 to now) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Boyer), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleboyerrr))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/danielle-boyer/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/danielle-boyer

- Says a major tech company offered $65 million for her language AI and the recordings behind it; after consulting her community, she said no. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/danielle-boyer/))
- Designed her first robot at 17 and founded The STEAM Connection at 18, giving away robot kits made from recycled plastic. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Boyer))
- Her grandmother, the last fluent Anishinaabemowin speaker in their family, was the voice of the very first SkoBot. ([home.dartmouth.edu](https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2026/10/danielle-boyer-champions-ethical-and-inclusive-innovation))
- The idea for the shoulder-riding SkoBot came to her in a toy store, inspired by Tickle Me Elmo. ([npr.org](https://www.npr.org/2026/07/26/nx-s1-5825798/robot-speaks-endangered-native-american-languages))
- Has put 350 SkoBots into Tribal schools and Indigenous youth programs since 2021, all free, reaching more than 10,000 children. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/danielle-boyer/))
- Says a popular chatbot invented an Anishinaabemowin word for dreamcatcher's weave, which is why her robots use no large language model. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/danielle-boyer/))

### Utkarsh Saxena

Co-founder and CEO, Adalat AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. His first case as a court clerk was a man jailed 12 years awaiting trial; his AI now speeds up 5,500 Indian courtrooms. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/utkarsh-saxena/))

- Education: PhD, Public policy, University of Oxford, 2026; MPA/ID, International development, Harvard University, 2020; LLM, Public and constitutional law, Harvard University, 2014; BA (Hons) / LLB, Economics; law, University of Delhi, 2012 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/utkarsh-saxena-2048636a), [adalat.ai](https://www.adalat.ai/about-us))
- Career: Adalat AI (Co-founder and CEO, 2023 to now); World Bank (Environmental Economist, 2022–2023); Boston Consulting Group (Management Consultant, 2020–2022); Government of India (Consultant, 2013–2018); Centre for Policy Research (Research Assistant, 2012–2013); Supreme Court of India (Attorney (earlier law clerk to Justice D. K. Jain), 2012–2023) ([adalat.ai](https://www.adalat.ai/about-us), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/utkarsh-saxena/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/utkarsh-saxena-2048636a))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/utkarsh-saxena/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/utkarsh-saxena

- His first case as a Supreme Court clerk involved a man who had spent more than 12 years in prison waiting for his trial to begin. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/utkarsh-saxena/))
- Co-wrote the Economic Survey of India 2017-18 chapter on court delays, Timely Justice, while working for the Chief Economic Adviser. ([adalat.ai](https://www.adalat.ai/about-us))
- Kerala made Adalat AI mandatory statewide, which Stanford Law's CodeX group called the first judiciary-mandated AI system anywhere. ([law.stanford.edu](https://law.stanford.edu/2025/10/16/adalat-ai-codex-group-meeting-october-16-2025/))
- Adalat AI was the first nonprofit Y Combinator had backed in nearly five years. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adalat-in_adalat-ai-is-now-backed-by-y-combinator-ugcPost-7495831216403668992-Ij2m?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAHB049sB9iZaQB8I-rwHoVs5eDTvyWUHXSg))
- Adalat's court transcription now runs in 5,500 courtrooms across 11 Indian states. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/utkarsh-saxena/))
- On India's court backlog: "The process has become the punishment." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/utkarsh-saxena/))

### Uljan Sharka

Founder and CEO, Domyn. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. He moved from Albania to Italy in 2008 without knowing a word of Italian; now his company leads the EU's Europa frontier AI model consortium. ([podcast.sifted.eu](https://podcast.sifted.eu/1877446/episodes/19670912-domyn-ceo-uljan-sharka-we-re-a-few-quarters-away-from-1bn-arr))

- Born: 1992 ([en.ilsole24ore.com](https://en.ilsole24ore.com/art/frontier-grand-challenge-domyn-to-lead-the-ai-sovrana-project-AIgNTNoD))

- Career: Domyn (Founder and CEO, 2016 to now); Apple (Technical Coordinator, 2012–2015) ([domyn.com](https://www.domyn.com/people/uljan-sharka), [podcast.sifted.eu](https://podcast.sifted.eu/1877446/episodes/19670912-domyn-ceo-uljan-sharka-we-re-a-few-quarters-away-from-1bn-arr), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/uljan), [hbsitaly.org](https://www.hbsitaly.org/?sid=1738&gid=60&pgid=84438&cid=173728&ecid=173728&crid=0&calpgid=3083&calcid=15747))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/uljan-sharka/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/uljan-sharka

- Moved alone from Albania to Italy at 16, in 2008, without knowing a word of Italian. ([podcast.sifted.eu](https://podcast.sifted.eu/1877446/episodes/19670912-domyn-ceo-uljan-sharka-we-re-a-few-quarters-away-from-1bn-arr))
- His first iPhone inspired him to join Apple; with no degree, he got in through Apple's certification program and later worked in Silicon Valley. ([eye4ai.eu](https://eye4ai.eu/from-war-torn-albania-to-ai-unicorn-the-extraordinary-journey-of-uljan-sharka/))
- In 2018 his company iGenius raised $7 million, the largest round ever put in by a group of angel investors in Italy. ([albaniatech.org](https://albaniatech.org/uljan-sharka-with-his-startup-igenius-towards-a-european-unicorn-in-artificial-intelligence/))
- In 2024 the company released Italia, an open-source language model trained only on Italian. ([albaniatech.org](https://albaniatech.org/uljan-sharka-with-his-startup-igenius-towards-a-european-unicorn-in-artificial-intelligence/))
- The European Commission picked a Domyn-led group to build a fully open-source AI model covering all 24 official EU languages. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/uljan-sharka/))
- Argues AI autonomy is overhyped, calling AI systems nothing more than "digital books" of data. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/28/ai-domyn-uljan-sharka-openai-anthropic-safety-lying))

### Andrew Feldman

Co-founder and CEO, Cerebras Systems. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. His company builds a dinner-plate-sized AI chip, about 57 times the size of a GPU and the largest chip ever made. ([time.com](https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012720/andrew-feldman/))

- Born: Palo Alto, California, US ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feldman_(businessman)))
- Education: MBA, Stanford University, 1997; BA, Economics and political science, Stanford University, 1991 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feldman_(businessman)))
- Career: Cerebras Systems (Co-founder and CEO, 2015 to now); AMD (Corporate Vice President and General Manager, 2012–2014); SeaMicro (Co-founder and CEO, 2007–2012); Force10 Networks (Vice President, Product Management, Marketing and Business Development, 2003–2006); Riverstone Networks (Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Development, 2000–2003); Cabletron (Senior Director of Marketing, 1998–2000); Molecular Applications Group (Vice President, Sales and Marketing, 1991–1993) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feldman_(businessman)), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdfeldman))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/andrew-feldman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/andrew-feldman

- Cerebras's Wafer Scale Engine is a dinner-plate-sized chip about 57 times the size of a GPU, the largest chip ever made. ([time.com](https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012720/andrew-feldman/))
- The Computer History Museum gave the chip a permanent display, calling it the first wafer-scale integration in computing's 70-year history. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feldman_(businessman)))
- All four of his Cerebras co-founders had worked with him at SeaMicro, the server startup he sold to AMD in 2012. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feldman_(businessman)))
- In 2017 he flew to Taipei to ask TSMC to bet on a chip that didn't exist yet, when Cerebras had 30 people and no revenue. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrewdfeldman_silicon-valley-often-talks-about-long-term-activity-7511412498122620929-EMKy))
- Cerebras's May 2026 IPO raised $5.55 billion, and its shares rose about 68% on the first day of trading. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feldman_(businessman)))
- On taking on Nvidia: "I'm a professional David in the battle of Goliath." ([time.com](https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012720/andrew-feldman/))

### Deng Taihua

Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO, AgiBot. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. He co-founded AgiBot in 2023 but made his first public appearance only in August 2025, the year it shipped more humanoid robots than anyone. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725))

- Born: 1977 ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725))
- Education: Bachelor's, Computer communications, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725))
- Career: AgiBot (Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, 2023 to now); Huawei (Senior Vice President; President, Computing Product Line, until 2022) ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/deng-taihua/), [qbitai.com](https://www.qbitai.com/2026/08/480666.html), [36kr.com](https://36kr.com/p/3381110559889799))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/deng-taihua/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/deng-taihua

- Spent more than 20 years at Huawei, starting in wireless networks; in 2017 he gave a 5G keynote in London as head of its wireless product line. ([huawei.com](https://www.huawei.com/cn/news/2017/11/5g-era-mobile-network))
- As head of Huawei's computing product line he led its Kunpeng and Ascend AI chip ecosystems, before leaving to build robots. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725))
- His co-founder Peng Zhihui once worked under him at Huawei, hired as a genius youth into the Ascend AI chip unit. ([36kr.com](https://36kr.com/p/3381110559889799))
- Ran AgiBot out of public view for over two years; his first public appearance as founder was at its partner conference in August 2025. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725))
- AgiBot shipped more than 5,100 humanoid robots in 2025, ranking first in the world. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Deng%20Taihua/1483725))
- On profits: "We are not in a hurry to pursue positive net profit." ([eu.36kr.com](https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3809271853965060))

### Zhang Peng

CEO, Zhipu. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. He led Zhipu to become the first of China's 'AI tigers' to go public, with a $558 million Hong Kong IPO. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhang-peng/))

- Education: PhD (Engineering Doctorate), Computer science, Tsinghua University, 2018; MS, Computer science, Tsinghua University, 2005; BS, Computer science, Tsinghua University, 2002 ([ai.techbuzzchina.com](https://ai.techbuzzchina.com/profile/zhang-peng), [baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Zhang%20Peng/940527), [peopleofsi.com](https://peopleofsi.com/people/zhang-peng/))
- Career: Zhipu (Co-founder and CEO, 2019 to now); Tsinghua University (Researcher, until 2019) ([ai.techbuzzchina.com](https://ai.techbuzzchina.com/profile/zhang-peng), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhang-peng/), [baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Zhang%20Peng/940527), [gingerriver.com](https://www.gingerriver.com/p/zhipu-ceo-zhang-peng-on-taking-chinas))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhang-peng/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/zhang-peng

- Spent more than two decades at Tsinghua University, from entering as a computer science student in 1998, before founding Zhipu. ([gingerriver.com](https://www.gingerriver.com/p/zhipu-ceo-zhang-peng-on-taking-chinas))
- At Tsinghua's Knowledge Engineering Lab he led development of AMiner, a system for mining academic research and researcher networks. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Zhang%20Peng/940527))
- Zhipu became the first of China's AI tigers to go public, with a $558 million Hong Kong IPO in January 2026. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhang-peng/))
- Zhipu claims its GLM-5.3 model scores 88.2 on Terminal-Bench 2.1, three points ahead of Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhang-peng/))
- Joked that if Anthropic charges US$200, Zhipu would charge 200 yuan. ([cls.cn](https://www.cls.cn/detail/2252184))
- Says he would choose achieving AGI over making a lot of profit, calling it a long-distance race where you have to persist. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhang-peng/))

### Winston Weinberg

Co-founder and CEO, Harvey. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. A lawyer by training, he and his co-founder cold-emailed Sam Altman, which helped their legal AI startup Harvey get early access to GPT-4. ([fortune.com](https://fortune.com/2026/03/26/harvey-ceo-winston-weinberg-reearn-roles-career-advice-ai-tech-innovation-eleven-billion-dollar-startup-sam-altman-openai-backed/))

- Education: JD, Law, University of Southern California, 2021; Kenyon College, 2017 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/winston-weinberg))
- Career: Harvey (Co-founder and CEO, 2022 to now); O'Melveny & Myers (Associate, securities and antitrust litigation, 2021–2022) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/winston-weinberg), [harvey.ai](https://www.harvey.ai/blog/author/winston-weinberg))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/winston-weinberg/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/winston-weinberg

- Was a first-year litigation associate at O'Melveny & Myers when he left in 2022 to start Harvey. ([lawnext.com](https://www.lawnext.com/2026/01/lawnext-from-roommates-to-billionaires-harveys-founders-gabriel-pereyra-and-winston-weinberg-on-building-ai-infrastructure-for-law.html))
- Started Harvey with his roommate Gabriel Pereyra, a former Meta and Google DeepMind researcher, in their San Francisco apartment. ([lawnext.com](https://www.lawnext.com/2026/01/lawnext-from-roommates-to-billionaires-harveys-founders-gabriel-pereyra-and-winston-weinberg-on-building-ai-infrastructure-for-law.html))
- A cold email to Sam Altman got the pair early access to GPT-4 and backing from the OpenAI Startup Fund. ([fortune.com](https://fortune.com/2026/03/26/harvey-ceo-winston-weinberg-reearn-roles-career-advice-ai-tech-innovation-eleven-billion-dollar-startup-sam-altman-openai-backed/))
- In the earliest days he and Pereyra sent thousands of LinkedIn messages just to get anyone to look at the product. ([lawnext.com](https://www.lawnext.com/2026/01/lawnext-from-roommates-to-billionaires-harveys-founders-gabriel-pereyra-and-winston-weinberg-on-building-ai-infrastructure-for-law.html))
- In early 2024 Harvey nearly merged with a more traditional company ten times its size; he now calls the failed deal a lucky escape from a huge mistake. ([upstartsmedia.com](https://www.upstartsmedia.com/p/podcast-harvey-winston-weinberg))
- On competing with OpenAI and Anthropic: "The base case is you're gonna get run over." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/winston-weinberg/))

### Suchi Saria

Founder and CEO, Bayesian Health. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. Her company won FDA clearance for the first continuous AI monitor that warns doctors of sepsis, a factor in over a third of hospital deaths. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/suchi-saria/))

- Education: PhD, Computer science, Stanford University, 2011; MSc, Computer science, Stanford University, 2008; Bachelor's, Physics and computer science, Mount Holyoke College, 2004 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchisaria), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchi_Saria))
- Career: Bayesian Health (Founder and CEO, 2018 to now); AIX Ventures (Investment Partner, 2022–2023); Johns Hopkins University (John C. Malone Endowed Chair and Associate Professor, from 2012); Aster Data Systems (Member of Technical Staff, 2007–2008) ([suchisaria.jhu.edu](https://suchisaria.jhu.edu/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchisaria), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchi_Saria))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/suchi-saria/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/suchi-saria

- In May 2026 her company won FDA clearance for the first continuous AI monitor allowed to warn clinicians of sepsis risk. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/suchi-saria/))
- Sepsis, the condition her AI flags early, contributes to more than one third of all hospital deaths. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/suchi-saria/))
- Her 2011 Stanford PhD thesis was titled The Digital Patient, on machine learning for electronic health records. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchi_Saria))
- Her PhD was supervised by Daphne Koller, with Andrew Ng and Sebastian Thrun on her committee. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchisaria))
- In 2014 she got a $1.5 million Moore Foundation grant to make intensive care units safer using bedside data and 3D sensors in hospital rooms. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchi_Saria))
- On sepsis: "lead time is what changes outcomes." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/suchi-saria/))

### Sanjay Mehrotra

Chairman, President, and CEO, Micron Technology. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. He runs Micron, the only American maker of the high-bandwidth memory that sits beside most leading AI chips. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sanjay-mehrotra/))

- Born: 1958-06-27, Kanpur, India ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Mehrotra))
- Education: MS, Electrical engineering and computer sciences, UC Berkeley, 1980; BS, Electrical engineering and computer sciences, UC Berkeley, 1978; attended, no degree, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Mehrotra), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-mehrotra))
- Career: Micron Technology (Chairman, President and CEO, 2017 to now); SanDisk (Co-founder, President and CEO, 1988–2016); Integrated Device Technology (Design Manager, 1986–1988); SEEQ Technology; Intel ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Mehrotra), [micron.com](https://www.micron.com/about/company/leadership/sanjay-mehrotra), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-mehrotra))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sanjay-mehrotra/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/sanjay-mehrotra

- Moved to the US at 18 in 1976, transferring from BITS Pilani in India to UC Berkeley; he says that summer was his first flight. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sanjay-mehrotra_america250-americandream-activity-7479007420392923136-ziz9))
- Co-founded flash memory maker SanDisk in 1988 and stayed 28 years, through its 2016 sale to Western Digital. ([micron.com](https://www.micron.com/about/company/leadership/sanjay-mehrotra))
- Holds more than 70 patents, several of them foundational to high-capacity flash memory. ([micron.com](https://www.micron.com/about/company/leadership/sanjay-mehrotra))
- Steered Micron from a $5.8 billion loss in the 2023 downturn to AI growth, with cloud-memory quarterly revenue rising from $3.4 billion to $13.8 billion. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sanjay-mehrotra/))
- Micron is the only American maker of high-bandwidth memory, the chips stacked next to AI processors, and one of three worldwide. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sanjay-mehrotra/))
- Micron plans more than $250 billion of US manufacturing and R&D, aiming to make 40% of its DRAM in the US. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sanjay-mehrotra_madeinamerica-activity-7481056755637133312-m9aI))

### Vivek Raghavan

Co-founder, Sarvam AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. He spent over a decade helping build Aadhaar, the world's largest biometric ID system, before setting out to build India its own AI. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/vivek-raghavan/))

- Education: PhD, Electrical and computer engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1993; MS, Electrical and computer engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; BTech, Electrical engineering, IIT Delhi, 1989 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivek-raghavan-16005424), [indiaspeakersbureau.in](https://www.indiaspeakersbureau.in/speakers/dr-vivek-raghavan/))
- Career: Sarvam AI (Co-founder, 2023 to now); EkStep Foundation (Chief AI Evangelist, 2020–2023); Magma Design Automation (Vice President, Product Development and Managing Director India, 2004–2010); Synopsys; Avant! Corporation ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/vivek-raghavan/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivek-raghavan-16005424), [indiaspeakersbureau.in](https://www.indiaspeakersbureau.in/speakers/dr-vivek-raghavan/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/vivek-raghavan/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/vivek-raghavan

- Spent 20 years in chip design software, founding, running and selling two electronic design automation companies. ([indiaspeakersbureau.in](https://www.indiaspeakersbureau.in/speakers/dr-vivek-raghavan/))
- Worked as a volunteer on Aadhaar's technology platform, joining as the first ID was issued and staying until the billionth was generated. ([indiaspeakersbureau.in](https://www.indiaspeakersbureau.in/speakers/dr-vivek-raghavan/))
- Spent more than a decade building Aadhaar, now the world's largest biometric ID system. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/vivek-raghavan/))
- Was volunteer CTO for Team Indus, India's entry in the Google Lunar X-Prize to land a spacecraft on the moon. ([indiaspeakersbureau.in](https://www.indiaspeakersbureau.in/speakers/dr-vivek-raghavan/))
- Sat on the Supreme Court of India's AI committee that rolled out SUVAS, software that translates judgments into Indian languages. ([indiaspeakersbureau.in](https://www.indiaspeakersbureau.in/speakers/dr-vivek-raghavan/))
- Says Indians are "exporting our data and importing intelligence," like exporting cotton and importing cloth a century ago. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/vivek-raghavan/))

### Hon Weng Chong

Founder and CEO, Cortical Labs. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. A medical doctor by background, he founded Cortical Labs, which grows neurons on silicon; its CL1 is the first biological computer available outside a research lab. ([thoughteconomics.com](https://thoughteconomics.com/hon-wen-chong/))

- Education: MBBS/BMedSci, Medicine, University of Melbourne, 2012 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hochong), [snfnostos.org](https://snfnostos.org/en/participants/hon-weng-chong/))
- Career: Cortical Labs (Founder and CEO, 2019–2026); Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (Research Fellow, 2017–2018); CliniCloud (Co-founder and CTO, 2014–2018); Peninsula Health (Doctor, 2013–2014); StethoCloud (Founder, 2012–2013); AppBryonic Labs (Founder, 2011) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hochong), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7499950857522786305-_f6i), [snfnostos.org](https://snfnostos.org/en/participants/hon-weng-chong/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/hon-weng-chong/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/hon-weng-chong

- Worked as a Linux developer for his own high school, Melbourne Grammar, from 2003 to 2005. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hochong))
- Coined the term synthetic biological intelligence to describe what Cortical Labs' lab-grown neurons do. ([thoughteconomics.com](https://thoughteconomics.com/hon-wen-chong/))
- Founded Cortical Labs in 2019 after reading a paper by Demis Hassabis urging AI researchers to go back to neuroscience. ([thoughteconomics.com](https://thoughteconomics.com/hon-wen-chong/))
- Cortical Labs' CL1, launched in 2025, is described as the first biological computer available outside a research lab. ([thoughteconomics.com](https://thoughteconomics.com/hon-wen-chong/))
- Says the CL1, which joins lab-grown neurons with silicon hardware, uses about 30 watts, versus thousands of watts for a GPU. ([thoughteconomics.com](https://thoughteconomics.com/hon-wen-chong/))
- Announced in August 2026 that he had resigned from Cortical Labs after seven years. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7499950857522786305-_f6i))

### Xiao Hong

Founder and CEO, Manus. TIME100 AI 2026, Innovators. Sold his AI agent startup Manus to Meta in a deal reported at about $2 billion, then Beijing ordered the deal unwound. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/27/china-vetoes-metas-2b-manus-deal-after-months-long-probe/))

- Born: 1993, Zuo'an Town, Suichuan County, Ji'an, Jiangxi, China ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Xiao%20Hong/54085))
- Education: Bachelor's, Software engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2015 ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Xiao%20Hong/54085))
- Career: Meta (Vice President, 2025 to now); Butterfly Effect (Manus) (Founder and CEO, 2022 to now); Minglue Technology (until 2022); Wuhan Nightingale Technology (Founder, 2015–2024) ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/xiao-hong/), [baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Xiao%20Hong/54085), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/red-xiao-9ab9a5165), [chinatalk.media](https://www.chinatalk.media/p/manus-chinas-latest-ai-sensation))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/xiao-hong/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/xiao-hong

- As a teenager in a small Jiangxi town he wrote software review columns for a Chinese tech site. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Xiao%20Hong/54085))
- In college he built a WeChat 'drift bottle' for his campus that drew 40,000 replies in three days. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Xiao%20Hong/54085))
- Calls himself a poor student who got by recruiting technical classmates, and tells founders to take talented classmates to dinner before graduation. ([chinatalk.media](https://www.chinatalk.media/p/manus-chinas-latest-ai-sensation))
- Turned down a reported $30M acquisition offer from ByteDance for his AI browser assistant Monica in early 2024. ([chinatalk.media](https://www.chinatalk.media/p/manus-chinas-latest-ai-sensation))
- Meta agreed to buy Manus in December 2025 for a reported $2B+, about nine months after the AI agent launched. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/xiao-hong/))
- In April 2026 China's NDRC ordered Meta to unwind the Manus deal; by September he was back running Manus independently and launched Manus 2.0. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-blocks-foreign-acquisition-ai-startup-manus-2026-04-27/))

## Shapers

### Doreen Bogdan-Martin

Secretary-General, United Nations International Telecommunication Union. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. The first woman to lead the UN's telecom agency, the ITU, is also an active amateur radio operator. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Bogdan-Martin))

- Born: 1966, Monmouth County, New Jersey, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Bogdan-Martin))
- Education: MA, International communications policy, American University, 1990; BA, University of Delaware, 1988 ([itu.int](https://www.itu.int/en/osg/Pages/biography-itu-sg-doreen.aspx), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreentbogdan), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Bogdan-Martin))
- Career: ITU (Secretary-General, 1994 to now); NTIA (US Department of Commerce) (Telecommunication Policy Specialist, 1989–1994) ([itu.int](https://www.itu.int/en/osg/Pages/biography-itu-sg-doreen.aspx), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreentbogdan))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/doreen-bogdan-martin/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/doreen-bogdan-martin

- First woman to lead the ITU since it was founded in 1865, and the first American in more than 50 years. ([state.gov](https://www.state.gov/endorsements-for-doreen-bogdan-martin))
- Won the top ITU job with 139 of 172 votes, beating Russia's candidate Rashid Ismailov. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Bogdan-Martin))
- A licensed amateur radio operator with the call sign KD2JTX. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Bogdan-Martin))
- Secured more than $120 billion in pledges from companies and development agencies to bring the world online. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/doreen-bogdan-martin/))
- Helped launch the ITU's AI for Good initiative in 2017; its July 2026 summit drew more than 12,000 people to Geneva. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/doreen-bogdan-martin/))
- Spent over three decades at the ITU, starting in 1994 as a policy analyst in its development bureau. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreentbogdan))

### Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Co-founder, Creators Coalition on AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. The actor is now the UN's first Global Advocate for Human-centric Digital Governance, a role created in March 2026. ([un.org](https://www.un.org/en/desa/un-appoints-joseph-gordon-levitt-as-global-advocate))

- Born: 1981-02-17, Los Angeles, California, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gordon-Levitt))
- Education: attended, no degree, Columbia University, 2004 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gordon-Levitt))
- Career: Creators Coalition on AI (Co-founder, 2025 to now); HitRecord (Co-founder) ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/joseph-gordon-levitt/), [creatorscoalitionai.com](https://www.creatorscoalitionai.com/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/joseph-gordon-levitt/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/joseph-gordon-levitt

- Joined a musical theater group at four, playing the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, then did ads for Cocoa Puffs and Pop-Tarts. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gordon-Levitt))
- Paused acting to study at Columbia University, then dropped out in 2004 to go back to acting. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gordon-Levitt))
- His collaborative media platform HitRecord won him two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Interactive Program. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gordon-Levitt))
- Named the UN's first Global Advocate for Human-centric Digital Governance in March 2026. ([un.org](https://www.un.org/en/desa/un-appoints-joseph-gordon-levitt-as-global-advocate))
- Co-founded the Creators Coalition on AI with Daniel Kwan and others; signatories include Cate Blanchett and Margot Robbie. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/joseph-gordon-levitt/))
- Is now filming a Netflix thriller about AI, bringing his acting and his AI advocacy onto the same subject. ([journal.hitrecord.org](https://journal.hitrecord.org/p/the-first-day-of-filming-our-ai-thriller))

### Pat Grady

Co-steward, Sequoia Capital. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Before Sequoia, he made $9 an hour putting down shingles in a high school construction job, and Sequoia's returns helped pay his Boston College tuition. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/pat-grady))

- Education: BS, Economics and finance, Boston College, 2004 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gradypb))
- Career: Sequoia Capital (Co-steward, 2007 to now) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gradypb), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/pat-grady-alfred-lin/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/pat-grady-alfred-lin/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/pat-grady

- Grew up in Wyoming, where his high school jobs were in construction laying shingles for $9 an hour. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/pat-grady))
- His Boston College tuition was partly paid by returns from Sequoia investments through its nonprofit backers, which he cites as a motivation. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/pat-grady))
- Started out in inside sales after college, where 50 dials a day produced about 200 conversations a month. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/pat-grady))
- Since taking Sequoia's top job with Alfred Lin, helped raise $10B across funds and made a $2.5B investment in Anthropic. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/pat-grady-alfred-lin/))
- Told TIME Sequoia's long-term target for each of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic is about $10 trillion in market cap. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/pat-grady-alfred-lin/))
- Co-hosts Sequoia's AI podcast Training Data with Sonya Huang, launched in June 2024. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/series/training-data))

### Alfred Lin

Co-steward, Sequoia Capital. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. As a Harvard student he resold pizza by the slice, which caught Tony Hsieh's eye and led to Zappos; he now co-leads Sequoia as managing partner. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin))

- Born: 1972, Taiwan ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin), [sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/alfred-lin))
- Education: MS, Statistics, Stanford University, 1996; attended, no degree, Statistics (PhD), Stanford University; BA, Applied mathematics, Harvard University, 1994 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/linalfred))
- Career: Sequoia Capital (Co-steward, 2010 to now); Zappos (Chairman, COO and CFO, 2005–2010); Tellme Networks (VP of Finance and Business Development); Venture Frogs (Co-founder); LinkExchange (CFO, from 1996) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/linalfred), [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/04/sequoia-names-alfred-lin-and-pat-grady-as-new-co-stewards-as-roelof-botha-steps-down/), [fs.blog](https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/alfred-lin/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin), [sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/alfred-lin))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/pat-grady-alfred-lin/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/alfred-lin

- At Harvard he bought whole pizzas, cut them into slices and resold them at a profit, which is how Tony Hsieh noticed him. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin))
- Dropped out of a Stanford statistics PhD to become CFO of Tony Hsieh's startup LinkExchange. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin))
- Microsoft bought LinkExchange for $265 million, giving Sequoia a 17x return in 17 months. ([sequoiacap.com](https://sequoiacap.com/people/alfred-lin))
- Ran Zappos' finance and warehouse operations as COO and CFO through its $1.2 billion sale to Amazon. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin))
- Moved from Taiwan to New York with his parents at age six and went to Stuyvesant High School. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin))
- Every company he worked at was acquired, the smallest for $265 million, which led TechCrunch to credit him with the Midas touch. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lin))

### Andrea Bartz

Writer. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. A thriller novelist who was a lead plaintiff in the authors' suit over pirated books that Anthropic agreed to settle for $1.5 billion. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bartz))

- Born: Brookfield, Wisconsin, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bartz), [wpr.org](https://www.wpr.org/news/meet-sisters-wisconsin-rule-thriller-novel-genre-andrea-julia-bartz))
- Education: BSJ, Journalism, Northwestern University, 2008; MSJ, Magazine journalism, Northwestern University, 2008 ([magazine.medill.northwestern.edu](https://magazine.medill.northwestern.edu/2020/the-herd/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-bartz))
- Career: mindbodygreen (Freelance features editor, 2016); Hearst (Freelance senior editor, 2015); American Media (Deputy editor, Fit Pregnancy & Natural Health, 2013–2015); Condé Nast (Senior editor, Glamour, 2008–2013); Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (Senior health editor, Whole Living, 2012); CNN (Contributing Netiquette columnist, 2010–2012); Psychology Today (Senior news editor, 2010–2011); Stuff Hipsters Hate (Cofounder and coauthor, 2009–2010); Shepherd Express (Contributing writer, 2005–2006) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-bartz), [andreabartz.com](https://www.andreabartz.com/about))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/andrea-bartz/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/andrea-bartz

- Lead plaintiff in Bartz v. Anthropic, which ended in a $1.5 billion settlement with authors over pirated books used to train AI. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bartz))
- Says being alphabetically first of three plaintiffs is why her name became shorthand for the case: 'the privilege and the tax.' ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/andrea-bartz/))
- Co-created the Tumblr and book Stuff Hipsters Hate in 2009, while an editorial assistant at SELF. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-bartz))
- Spent a decade as a magazine editor at places like Glamour, Psychology Today and SELF before her first thriller came out in 2019. ([andreabartz.com](https://www.andreabartz.com/about))
- Her thrillers have sold more than half a million copies, and We Were Never Here was a Reese's Book Club pick now headed to Netflix. ([andreabartz.com](https://www.andreabartz.com/about))
- Her next novel, an AI tech thriller called Delete Your Account, is due in May 2027. ([andreabartz.com](https://www.andreabartz.com/about))

### Max Tegmark

Founder and Chair, Future of Life Institute. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. An MIT physicist whose nonprofit grades AI companies on safety; the top score on its index this summer was a C+. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-tegmark/))

- Born: 1967-05-05, Stockholm, Sweden ([physics.mit.edu](https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/max-tegmark/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Tegmark))
- Education: PhD, Physics, UC Berkeley, 1994; MA, Physics, UC Berkeley, 1992; MSE, Engineering physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 1990; BA, Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, 1989 ([physics.mit.edu](https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/max-tegmark/))
- Career: Future of Life Institute (Co-founder and President, 2014 to now); MIT (Professor of Physics, 2004 to now); University of Pennsylvania (Assistant Professor, until 2004); Max Planck Institute for Physics (Research associate) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Life_Institute), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-tegmark/), [physics.mit.edu](https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/max-tegmark/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-tegmark/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/max-tegmark

- Earned an economics degree from the Stockholm School of Economics before switching to physics. ([physics.mit.edu](https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/max-tegmark/))
- Spent most of his career as a cosmologist mapping the universe before turning his MIT research to AI interpretability and provably safe AI. ([physics.mit.edu](https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/max-tegmark/))
- His institute's 2023 open letter asking labs to pause AI more powerful than GPT-4 drew a long list of high-profile signatories. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-tegmark/))
- FLI grades AI labs on safety; the best score in its summer 2026 AI Safety Index was a C+, earned by Anthropic. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-tegmark/))
- Says he saw more shift in U.S. AI policymaking in three months of 2026 than in the previous decade. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-tegmark/))
- Wrote two New York Times bestsellers, Life 3.0 on AI and Our Mathematical Universe on physics. ([cser.ac.uk](https://www.cser.ac.uk/work/16-september-2026-a-better-path-for-ai-with-max-tegmark/))

### Jack Clark

Co-founder and Head of Public Benefit, Anthropic. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. A former Bloomberg and Register tech reporter who co-founded Anthropic and still writes Import AI, a weekly AI newsletter. ([importai.substack.com](https://importai.substack.com/about))

- Born: Brighton, England ([longtermwiki.com](https://www.longtermwiki.com/wiki/E1248))
- Education: BA, English literature with creative writing, University of East Anglia, 2009 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-clark-5a320317))
- Career: Anthropic (Co-founder and Head of Public Benefit, 2021 to now); OpenAI (Policy Director, 2016–2020); Bloomberg (Reporter, 2014–2016); The Register (Reporter, 2013–2014); ZDNet UK (Reporter, 2010–2013); Adfero (Researcher and Reporter, 2009–2010) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-clark-5a320317), [anthropic.com](https://www.anthropic.com/company/leadership), [importai.substack.com](https://importai.substack.com/about))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/jack-clark/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/jack-clark

- Studied English literature and creative writing, then spent years as a tech reporter, calling himself the world's only neural network reporter. ([importai.substack.com](https://importai.substack.com/about))
- Has written the weekly Import AI newsletter since 2016; it reaches about 70,000 readers and includes short science fiction. ([importai.substack.com](https://importai.substack.com/about))
- Founding member of the Stanford AI Index and an inaugural member of the US National AI Advisory Committee. ([importai.substack.com](https://importai.substack.com/about))
- Told Axios there is a 60%+ chance an AI model fully trains its own successor by the end of 2028. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/05/07/anthropic-jack-clark-ai-intelligence-explosion))
- Told Congress he is an immigrant who co-founded Anthropic and became a U.S. citizen a few years earlier. ([docs.house.gov](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/ZS/ZS00/20250625/118428/HHRG-119-ZS00-Wstate-ClarkJ-20250625.pdf))
- In March 2026 he handed off Anthropic's policy work to lead The Anthropic Institute, which studies frontier AI's effects on society. ([anthropic.com](https://www.anthropic.com/news/the-anthropic-institute))

### Andy Konwinski

Co-founder, Laude, Databricks, and Perplexity. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Started at a trade school and a community college, then co-founded both Databricks and Perplexity. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Konwinski))

- Born: 1983-10-15, Rural Wisconsin, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Konwinski))
- Education: PhD, Computer science, UC Berkeley, 2012; BS, Computer science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2007; Associate's, Computer science, University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley, 2005 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Konwinski), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andykon))
- Career: Laude Ventures (Co-founder and General Partner, 2024 to now); Laude Institute (Co-founder, 2024 to now); Perplexity (Co-founder and founding President, 2022 to now); Computer Science Graduate Ventures (2019 to now); Databricks (Co-founder; VP Product AI/ML, 2013 to now) ([laude.vc](https://laude.vc/team/andy-konwinski), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andykon), [laude.org](https://www.laude.org/), [forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/andy-konwinski/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Konwinski), [andykonwinski.com](https://andykonwinski.com/about/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/andy-konwinski/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/andy-konwinski

- Went to a trade school and a community college before transferring to UW-Madison and then a Berkeley PhD. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Konwinski))
- As a Berkeley grad student he co-created Mesos and was on the team that built Apache Spark, the basis of Databricks. ([andykonwinski.com](https://andykonwinski.com/about/))
- One of very few people to co-found two AI-era giants: Databricks in 2013 and Perplexity in 2022, where he was founding President. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/andy-konwinski/))
- Put $100 million of his own money into the Laude Institute, a nonprofit funding moonshot computer science research. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/andy-konwinski/))
- Runs the K Prize, a $1M contest for the first AI to score 90% on a contamination-free version of SWE-Bench. ([andykonwinski.com](https://andykonwinski.com/about/))

### Sunny Gandhi

Co-Executive Director, Encode. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. At 24, he spearheaded a successful effort to mandate human control over AI in nuclear weapons systems. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/))

- Education: BS, Computer science (honors), Indiana University Bloomington ([encodeai.org](https://encodeai.org/person/sunny-gandhi/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnysgandhi))
- Career: Encode (Co-Executive Director, 2023 to now); Deloitte ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnysgandhi), [encodeai.org](https://encodeai.org/person/sunny-gandhi/), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/), [gssr.georgetown.edu](https://gssr.georgetown.edu/precision-guided-podcast/episode-70-legislating-artificial-intelligence/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/sunny-gandhi

- Was 24 when TIME named him, after leading Encode's push for state AI-safety laws. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/))
- Helped push California's SB 1047 through both chambers in 2024; he called Newsom's veto 'a real punch in the face.' ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/))
- Led the effort behind the first U.S. law requiring human control and safety rules for AI in nuclear weapons systems. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/))
- Trained in computer science and worked in technical roles at NASA and Deloitte before going into AI policy. ([gssr.georgetown.edu](https://gssr.georgetown.edu/precision-guided-podcast/episode-70-legislating-artificial-intelligence/))
- Says he has the easier job than industry lobbyists because public opinion is on his side. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sunny-gandhi/))

### Paris Hilton

Advocate against deepfakes. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Paris Hilton says more than 100,000 fake explicit images of her are online, and she took that fight to Congress. ([19thnews.org](https://19thnews.org/2026/01/paris-hilton-aoc-deepfakes/))

- Born: 1981-02-17, New York City, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Hilton))

- Career: 11:11 Media (Founder, Chairwoman and CEO, 2021 to now); Paris Hilton Entertainment (Chairwoman and CEO, 2006 to now) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/paris-hilton), [parishilton.com](https://www.parishilton.com/pages/11-11-media))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/paris-hilton/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/paris-hilton

- Told a Capitol Hill news conference that over 100,000 nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfake images of her have circulated online. ([19thnews.org](https://19thnews.org/2026/01/paris-hilton-aoc-deepfakes/))
- On a private video of her leaked without consent at 19, she said people called it a scandal, but 'It wasn't. It was abuse.' ([19thnews.org](https://19thnews.org/2026/01/paris-hilton-aoc-deepfakes/))
- Backed the DEFIANCE Act, a bipartisan bill that lets deepfake victims sue the people who made them, alongside Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Laurel Lee. ([19thnews.org](https://19thnews.org/2026/01/paris-hilton-aoc-deepfakes/))
- Before her advocacy work she lobbied Congress for the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which passed both chambers in 2024. ([cnn.com](https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/18/entertainment/paris-hilton-stop-institutional-child-abuse-act))
- Her perfume line alone had brought in more than $2.5 billion in revenue by 2020. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Hilton))

### Erin Brockovich

Founder, Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. An environmental advocate for more than 30 years, Erin Brockovich now runs a map where communities report issues with AI data centers. ([brockovichdatacenter.com](https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/))

- Born: 1960-06-22, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich))
- Education: AAA, Wade College ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich))
- Career: Brockovich Research and Consulting (President); Weitz & Luxenberg (Consultant, 2008–2016); Masry & Vititoe (Legal clerk and environmental researcher, 1991–2009) ([linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/in/erin-brockovich-a359773b), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/erin-brockovich/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/erin-brockovich

- As a legal clerk with no law degree, she built the Hinkley case against PG&E over chromium-6 in drinking water, settled in 1996 for $333 million. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich))
- That PG&E settlement was the largest ever paid in a US direct-action lawsuit at the time. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich))
- Her name became an Oscar-winning movie and then a verb, meaning to investigate and keep fighting for a cause. ([thebrockovichreport.com](https://www.thebrockovichreport.com/about))
- Her crowd-sourced AI data center map has logged over 9,700 community-reported locations across the US. ([brockovichdatacenter.com](https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/))
- The data center map reuses the crowd-reporting model of her earlier Community Healthbook for water contamination. ([brockovich.com](https://www.brockovich.com/community-healthbook/))
- Says the number one concern residents report about data centers is lack of transparency. ([chron.com](https://www.chron.com/news/article/data-centers-erin-brockovitch-texas-22276986.php))

### Wafa Ben-Hassine

Chief, Digital Technology and Human Rights Section, OHCHR. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. An international lawyer who has worked with the UN human rights office, she helped draft the preamble of Tunisia's post-revolution constitution. ([wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about))

- Born: Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. ([wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about))
- Education: JD, International law, University of Denver; BA, Political science (public law), UC San Diego ([wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wbenhassine))
- Career: OHCHR (Chief, Digital Technology and Human Rights Section, 2019 to now); Omidyar Network (Director, Programs and Policy, 2020–2026); HiiL (MENA Lead, Justice Accelerator, 2020); International Finance Corporation (Consultant, 2019–2020); UNESCO (Expert Consultant, 2019–2020); Access Now (Global Policy Counsel and MENA Policy Manager, 2016–2019); Nawaat (Columnist, 2012–2013); Tunisian Constituent Assembly (Legislative Aide, 2012); Tunisia Live (Editor in Chief, 2011–2012) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wbenhassine), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/wafa-ben-hassine/), [weforum.org](https://www.weforum.org/people/wafa-ben-hassine), [wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/wafa-ben-hassine/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/wafa-ben-hassine

- Was a legislative aide in Tunisia's first democratically elected parliament in 2012 and helped draft the preamble of its new constitution. ([wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about))
- The UN Human Rights Office's first-ever chief of digital technology and human rights, a role she took in 2026. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/wafa-ben-hassine/))
- Co-created Humanity AI, a coalition of foundations that pooled some $500 million for humane uses of AI. ([weforum.org](https://www.weforum.org/people/wafa-ben-hassine))
- Was student body president at UC San Diego in 2010-11. ([wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about))
- Co-founded LEAD Tunisia, a nonprofit working to improve graduate legal education in the country. ([wafabenhassine.com](https://www.wafabenhassine.com/about))

### Bernadette Meehan

CEO, Wikimedia Foundation. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Before running Wikipedia's nonprofit, she was a Wall Street banker, the White House's national security spokesperson and U.S. ambassador to Chile. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))

- Born: The Bronx, New York, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- Education: BA, Political science, Boston College ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- Career: Wikimedia Foundation (Chief Executive Officer, 2026 to now); U.S. Department of State (U.S. Ambassador to Chile, 2022–2025); Obama Foundation (Executive Vice President of Global Programs, 2017–2021); White House National Security Council (Spokesperson and Special Advisor to the President, 2012–2017); U.S. Department of State (Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, 2004–2012); Lehman Brothers (Vice President, Asset Management, 2003–2004); JPMorgan Chase (Vice President, Private Banking, 1997–2003) ([wikimediafoundation.org](https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/12/09/wikimedia-foundation-appoints-bernadette-meehan-as-chief-executive-officer/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadette-meehan-b6855511a))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/bernadette-meehan/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/bernadette-meehan

- Spent years on Wall Street as a vice president at JPMorgan and then Lehman Brothers before switching to the U.S. Foreign Service in 2004. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- At 16 she moved to Río Gallegos, at the southern tip of Argentina, as a high school exchange student. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- Was the White House National Security Council's spokesperson from 2012 to 2015, then helped plan Barack Obama's 2016 visit to Cuba. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- At J.P. Morgan she helped design one of the bank's first web-based client platforms. ([meta.wikimedia.org](https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:BMeehan-WMF))
- As ambassador to Chile she backed the Humboldt Cable, the first subsea cable linking South America with Asia. ([diff.wikimedia.org](https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/12/09/welcoming-the-wikimedia-foundations-new-ceo/))
- Says Wikipedia content is core to generative AI but often lacks clear attribution back to Wikimedia sites. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/wikipedia-operator-taps-former-us-ambassador-chile-ceo-role-2025-12-09/))

### Sarah Guo

Founder, Conviction. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. She built her family's company website at 14, pitched investors at 19 and became Greylock's youngest-ever general partner at 28. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo))

- Education: BA, BS, MBA, MA, University of Pennsylvania ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo))
- Career: Conviction (Founder, 2022 to now); Greylock (General Partner, 2013–2022); Goldman Sachs (2012–2013) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahxguo))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sarah-guo/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/sarah-guo

- Built the first website for her family's broadband equipment company at 14 and was pitching it to investors by 19. It later went public on the Nasdaq. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo))
- Earned four degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (a BA, a BS, an MBA and an MA) in five years. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo))
- Was a competitive figure skater as a child growing up in Wisconsin. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo))
- Became Greylock's youngest-ever general partner at 28, after helping lead its Series A investment in Figma. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Guo))
- Wrote seed checks into Baseten and Harvey before ChatGPT launched; each is now valued at more than $11 billion. ([colossus.com](https://colossus.com/article/sarah-guo-conviction/))
- Her first two calls after founding Conviction were to OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and investor Nat Friedman. ([colossus.com](https://colossus.com/article/sarah-guo-conviction/))

### Bernie Sanders

U.S. Senator, Vermont. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. He worked as a carpenter and writer and lost two Senate races in the 1970s before becoming the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders))

- Born: 1941-09-08, Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. ([bioguide.congress.gov](https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000033), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders))
- Education: University of Chicago, 1964; attended, no degree, Brooklyn College ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders), [bioguide.congress.gov](https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000033))
- Career: U.S. Senate (U.S. Senator from Vermont, 2007 to now); U.S. House of Representatives (U.S. Representative, Vermont at-large, 1991–2007); Hamilton College (Lecturer, 1990); Harvard University (Lecturer, 1989); City of Burlington (Mayor, 1981–1989) ([bioguide.congress.gov](https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000033), [sanders.senate.gov](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/bernie-sanders/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/bernie-sanders

- Worked as a carpenter and as a journalist before entering elected office. ([bioguide.congress.gov](https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000033))
- Lost independent runs for the U.S. Senate in 1972 and 1974, then won the Burlington mayor's race in 1981 and was reelected three times. ([bioguide.congress.gov](https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000033))
- As a University of Chicago student he organized protests for CORE and SNCC during the civil rights movement. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders))
- Is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history, with 16 years in the House before moving to the Senate. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders))
- In 1991 he and five other House members co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders))

### David Sacks

Co-Chair, President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Before shaping White House AI policy, he was PayPal's COO and product leader and produced the movie Thank You for Smoking. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))

- Born: 1972-05-25, Cape Town, South Africa ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))
- Education: JD, Law, University of Chicago, 1998; BA, Economics, Stanford University, 1994 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))
- Career: White House (Special Advisor for AI and Crypto; Co-Chair, PCAST, 2025 to now); Craft Ventures (Co-founder and General Partner, 2017 to now); Zenefits (Interim CEO, 2016); Yammer (Founder and CEO, 2008–2014); PayPal (COO, 1999–2002); McKinsey (Management consultant, until 1999) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks), [whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/03/president-trump-announces-appointments-to-presidents-council-of-advisors-on-science-and-technology/), [craftventures.com](https://www.craftventures.com/team/david-sacks), [allin.com](https://allin.com/about/david-sacks), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidoliversacks))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/david-sacks/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/david-sacks

- After PayPal he produced and financed the 2005 satirical film Thank You for Smoking. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidoliversacks))
- Met Peter Thiel at Stanford working on the Stanford Review, and the two co-wrote a 1995 book, The Diversity Myth. ([theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/20/david-sacks-trump-ai-czar))
- Founded Yammer in 2008; it grew past eight million users and sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion. ([allin.com](https://allin.com/about/david-sacks))
- Left the AI and crypto czar post in March 2026 because special government employees may work only 130 days a year, then became PCAST co-chair. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-ai-czar-sacks-step-down-moves-advisory-role-2026-03-27/))
- Has invested in more than 20 unicorns, with early angel bets on Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir and Airbnb. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))
- Co-hosts the All-In podcast, launched in March 2020 during the pandemic; it now has more than a million YouTube subscribers. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-In_Podcast))

### Angle Bush

Founder, Black Women In Artificial Intelligence. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. She set out to build a cocoa-serving robot, never finished it, and founded Black Women in AI, which now has 155 members around the world. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/angle-bush/))

- Born: Chicago ([mlive.com](https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2026/08/entrepreneur-with-michigan-roots-lands-on-time100-ai-list.html))
- Education: MS, Administration, Central Michigan University; BS, Community development (public administration), Central Michigan University ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/angle-bush/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/angle-bush-msa-9749a2144))
- Career: Black Women In Artificial Intelligence (Founder and CEO, 2020 to now) ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/angle-bush/), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/angle-bush/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/angle-bush/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/angle-bush

- Came to AI from the oil and gas industry in Houston, with a background in project management, financial analysis and vendor management. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/angle-bush-msa-9749a2144))
- Set out to build a robot and never finished it; she started the membership group Black Women in Artificial Intelligence instead. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/angle-bush/))
- Within four years of its 2020 founding, her group had members on five continents: North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa. ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/angle-bush/))
- Her organization has partnered with Amazon, Capital One, Microsoft and Nvidia to bring more Black women into AI jobs. ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/angle-bush/))
- Said of Black women's representation in tech: "The numbers are abysmal, but I still have hope." ([x.com](https://x.com/Adweek/status/1395087304297955334))

### Alessandra Sala

Co-chair, UNESCO Women for Ethical AI & senior director of AI and data science, Shutterstock. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Her father got an AI voicemail that sounded exactly like her sister; she now represents Shutterstock in a group writing standards to tackle deepfakes. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/alessandra-sala/))

- Born: Amalfi, Italy ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/alessandra-sala/), [kids.kiddle.co](https://kids.kiddle.co/Alessandra_Sala))
- Education: PhD, Computer science, University of Salerno, 2008; Laurea, Computer science, University of Salerno, 2004 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/salaalessandra))
- Career: Shutterstock (Senior Director of AI and Data Science, 2020–2026); Women in AI (Global President, from 2019); Nokia Bell Labs (Head of Analytics Research, 2012–2020); UC Santa Barbara (Research Associate, 2008–2012) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/salaalessandra), [investor.shutterstock.com](https://investor.shutterstock.com/news-releases/news-release-details/dr-alessandra-sala-named-2026-time100-ai-list), [aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/alessandra-sala/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/alessandra-sala/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/alessandra-sala

- Her father got an AI-generated voicemail that sounded exactly like her sister, and it nearly fooled the family. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/alessandra-sala/))
- Chairs a collaboration that brings ISO, IEC, ITU and other standards bodies together on a common response to deepfakes. ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/alessandra-sala/))
- As global president of the nonprofit Women in AI, she leads a community of women across 150 countries. ([aiforgood.itu.int](https://aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/alessandra-sala/))
- Spent eight years at Bell Labs, rising from research scientist to head of analytics research, leading teams in several locations. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/salaalessandra))
- Warns that when models see few examples of women, "this information gets forgotten very early." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/alessandra-sala/))

### Garrett Lord

Co-founder and CEO, Handshake. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. His student careers platform, Handshake, built an AI unit that went from zero to over $1 billion in gross annualized revenue in 16 months. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/garrett-lord/))

- Education: BS, Computer science, Michigan Technological University, 2014 ([mtu.edu](https://www.mtu.edu/alumni/recognition/profiles/lord-garrett.html))
- Career: Handshake (Co-founder and CEO, 2012 to now) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettlord), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/garrett-lord/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/garrett-lord/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/garrett-lord

- The idea for Handshake came from Palantir's $5,000 referral bonus, which made him ask why companies couldn't reach strong CS students without referrals. ([mtu.edu](https://www.mtu.edu/magazine/2026/stories/handshake-origins/))
- He and his co-founders drove 40,000 miles in a rusty Ford Focus pitching Handshake while looking for their first client. ([mtu.edu](https://www.mtu.edu/alumni/recognition/profiles/lord-garrett.html))
- Called himself "a super nerd" as a kid and had to show his teacher how to set up the classroom's new computers. He later ran an IT business on the side. ([mtu.edu](https://www.mtu.edu/magazine/2026/stories/handshake-origins/))
- Landed a Palantir forward-deployed engineering internship by persistently emailing its recruiters, then won the company's annual summer hackathon. ([mtu.edu](https://www.mtu.edu/magazine/2026/stories/handshake-origins/))
- Handshake's AI unit went from zero to more than $1 billion in gross annualized revenue in 16 months, he says, and works with eight frontier labs. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/garrett-lord/))
- Joined the Mont Ripley ski patrol and played broomball in his first year at Michigan Tech. ([mtu.edu](https://www.mtu.edu/magazine/2026/stories/handshake-origins/))

### Joe Dominguez

President and CEO, Constellation Energy Group. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. A former federal prosecutor now runs Constellation Energy, whose nuclear, wind, solar, hydro and gas plants span 19 states. ([aspenideas.org](https://www.aspenideas.org/speakers/joseph-dominguez))

- Born: Union City, United States ([yespress.io](https://yespress.io/joseph-dominguez))
- Education: JD, Law, Rutgers Law School; BS, Mechanical engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-dominguez-constellation))
- Career: Constellation (Chairman, President and CEO, 2022 to now); Exelon (CEO, Exelon Generation, 2002–2022); White and Williams (Partner); U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Assistant U.S. Attorney) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-dominguez-constellation), [constellationenergy.com](https://www.constellationenergy.com/about/leadership/joseph-dominguez.html), [aspenideas.org](https://www.aspenideas.org/speakers/joseph-dominguez))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/joe-dominguez/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/joe-dominguez

- Trained as a mechanical engineer, then earned a law degree and worked as a federal prosecutor before ever running a power company. ([aspenideas.org](https://www.aspenideas.org/speakers/joseph-dominguez))
- In 2024 Constellation signed a 20-year deal with Microsoft to restart a reactor at the former Three Mile Island site, renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center. ([constellationenergy.com](https://www.constellationenergy.com/news/in-the-news.html))
- Says Constellation runs 25 of the roughly 94 nuclear plants in the U.S. and produces about 11% of the nation's energy. ([youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dqka68Pgd0))
- Buying Calpine made Constellation the largest private-sector power producer in the world, with more than 55,000 megawatts of capacity. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-dominguez-constellation))
- Calls nuclear a "purple technology" with more bipartisan support than almost any other. ([constellationenergy.com](https://www.constellationenergy.com/news/in-the-news.html))

### Philip Colligan

CEO, Raspberry Pi Foundation. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. His Raspberry Pi Foundation launched an AI course for kids two months before ChatGPT; it has since reached about 5 million children. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/philip-colligan/))

- Education: LLB, Law, University of Liverpool, 1997 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-colligan-cbe-8a218723))
- Career: Raspberry Pi Foundation (Chief Executive Officer, 2015 to now); Nesta (Deputy Chief Executive, 2010–2015); London Borough of Camden (Assistant Chief Executive, 2004–2010); Home Office (Head of Race Equality and Community Cohesion Strategy Team, 1998–2004) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-colligan-cbe-8a218723), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/philip-colligan/), [turing.ac.uk](https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/guest-speakers/philip-colligan))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/philip-colligan/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/philip-colligan

- Trained in law and spent over a decade in UK public service at the Home Office and Camden council before leading a computing charity. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-colligan-cbe-8a218723))
- His Experience AI lessons have been localized in 40 countries and used by some 50,000 teachers to reach about 5 million kids. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/philip-colligan/))
- Experience AI, built with Google DeepMind, launched two months before ChatGPT came out. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/philip-colligan/))
- The 2024 London IPO of Raspberry Pi, which he helped lead as a director, gave his charity a stake worth about $1 billion. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/philip-colligan/))
- Once ran a Code Club for 20 Year 7 students at Number Ten Downing Street. ([raspberrypi.org](https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/author/philip/))
- Argues that the kids who learn to code "will be the ones who shape the future." ([computerweekly.com](https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366627119/Interview-Philip-Colligan-CEO-Raspberry-Pi-Foundation))

### Meetali Jain

Executive Director, Tech Justice Law. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. A lawyer who started out representing Guantanamo detainees now runs Tech Justice Law, which takes tech companies to court. ([techjusticelaw.org](https://techjusticelaw.org/about/))

- Education: BSFS, International development, peace and justice studies, Georgetown University ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetali-jain-357ab829))
- Career: Tech Justice Law (Founder and Executive Director, 2023 to now); Reset Tech (Deputy Director, 2021–2023); University of San Francisco (Adjunct Professor of International Human Rights Law, 2018–2020); Avaaz (Legal and Campaign Director, 2017–2021); Constitutional Literacy and Service Initiative (Founder and Director, 2010–2017); University of Pretoria (Senior Researcher, 2014–2017); University of the Witwatersrand (Senior Researcher, 2013–2014); American University (Practitioner-in-Residence, International Human Rights Law Clinic, 2007–2010); Constitutional Court of South Africa (Judicial Law Clerk, 2005–2006); Goldstein Demchak (Associate, 2004–2006); Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (Attorney, 2003–2004); Morrison & Foerster (Associate, 2001–2003); U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Judicial Law Clerk, 2000–2001) ([techjusticelaw.org](https://techjusticelaw.org/about/), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/meetali-jain/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetali-jain-357ab829))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/meetali-jain/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/meetali-jain

- Began her legal career representing detainees accused of terrorism after 9/11, including at Guantanamo Bay. ([techjusticelaw.org](https://techjusticelaw.org/about/))
- Clerked for Justice Yvonne Mokgoro at the Constitutional Court of South Africa and taught law in clinics across South Africa. ([techjusticelaw.org](https://techjusticelaw.org/about/))
- Her group co-filed the first-ever lawsuits against an AI chatbot product, Character.AI, after a teenager's death in 2024. ([techjusticelaw.org](https://techjusticelaw.org/press-releases/meetali-jain-executive-director-of-tech-justice-law-named-to-time100-ai/))
- In May 2025 a federal judge ruled that Google and Character.AI must face her lawsuit; the companies settled in January 2026. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/meetali-jain/))
- In November 2025 her group and the Social Media Victims Law Center filed seven lawsuits against OpenAI over ChatGPT. ([peopleofsi.com](https://peopleofsi.com/people/meetali-jain/))
- Describes her team's role in AI cases simply: "I really see us as storytellers." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/meetali-jain/))

### Liz Shuler

President, AFL-CIO. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. She leads the AFL-CIO's 15 million workers, and its AI partnership with Microsoft includes a promise not to fight unionizing. ([americamagazine.org](https://www.americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/09/17/magnifica-humanitas-afl-cio-interview-labor-union/))

- Born: 1970, Gladstone, Oregon, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Shuler))
- Education: BA, Journalism, University of Oregon, 1992 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Shuler))
- Career: AFL-CIO (President, 2009 to now); IBEW (Executive Assistant to the President, 1993–2009) ([aflcio.org](https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/liz-shuler), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Shuler))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/liz-shuler/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/liz-shuler

- Grew up in a union household; her father was a power lineman, and she worked summers at the same utility, Portland General Electric, during college. ([aflcio.org](https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/liz-shuler))
- Her first job out of college was organizing clerical workers for an electrical workers' union local in Oregon. ([aflcio.org](https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/liz-shuler))
- As a young union lobbyist she helped a coalition beat Enron's push to deregulate electricity through the Oregon Legislature. ([aflcio.org](https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/liz-shuler))
- Is the first woman to lead the AFL-CIO, America's main labor federation. ([aflcio.org](https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/liz-shuler))
- Set a goal in 2022 of organizing 1 million new workers in a decade; she says unions hit it in three years. ([aflcio.org](https://aflcio.org/2026/6/15/unions-change-lives-working-people-weekly-list))
- Her 2023 deal with Microsoft includes a neutrality pledge: the company does not fight workers who try to unionize. ([americamagazine.org](https://www.americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/09/17/magnifica-humanitas-afl-cio-interview-labor-union/))

### Geoff Ralston

Founder, SAIF. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. The man who built RocketMail, which became Yahoo Mail, later ran Y Combinator and is now focused on SAIF, a fund steering AI toward a good future. ([tryterra.co](https://tryterra.co/podcast/Early-to-Every-Wave-Former-Y-Combinator-President-Geoff-Ralston))

- Born: Buffalo, United States ([pogonacreative.com](https://www.pogonacreative.com/blog/2026/2/16/geoff-ralston-college-education-forging-leadership-in-safe-ai))
- Education: MBA, Business, INSEAD, 1992; MS, Computer science, Stanford University, 1987; BA, Computer science, Dartmouth College, 1982 ([imaginek12.com](http://www.imaginek12.com/team.html), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffralston))
- Career: SAIF (Founder, 2025 to now); Y Combinator (President, 2011–2022); Imagine K12 (Co-founder, 2011–2016); Lala (CEO, 2007–2009); Yahoo (Chief Product Officer, 1997–2006); Four11 (VP Engineering, 1995–1997); Hewlett-Packard (1982–1992) ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/geoff-ralston/), [saif.vc](https://www.saif.vc/blog), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffralston), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Ralston), [imaginek12.com](http://www.imaginek12.com/team.html))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/geoff-ralston/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/geoff-ralston

- Created RocketMail, the email service that became Yahoo Mail, and went on to be Yahoo's chief product officer. ([tryterra.co](https://tryterra.co/podcast/Early-to-Every-Wave-Former-Y-Combinator-President-Geoff-Ralston))
- Ran Lala, a cloud music startup he calls a precursor to Apple Music; a deal with Facebook fell apart before Apple bought it in 2009. ([tryterra.co](https://tryterra.co/podcast/Early-to-Every-Wave-Former-Y-Combinator-President-Geoff-Ralston))
- Succeeded Sam Altman as president of Y Combinator after Altman left to go all in on OpenAI. ([coeuscollective.beehiiv.com](https://coeuscollective.beehiiv.com/p/the-agi-mirror-our-interview-with-former-y-combinator-president-geoff-ralston))
- Started his AI safety fund with his own money in 2025; it has backed nearly 30 companies. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/geoff-ralston/))
- In 2026 he launched a nonprofit behind a Bio Action Plan that calls for $2.5 billion in philanthropy to defend against AI-enabled pandemics. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/geoff-ralston/))
- Says that for the most part "every frontier lab is being incredibly irresponsible." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/geoff-ralston/))

### Max Spero

Co-founder and CEO, Pangram Labs. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. His AI-text detector Pangram says its monthly users jumped from 2,700 in June 2025 to 120,000 in June 2026. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram_(AI_detector)))

- Education: MS, Artificial intelligence, Stanford University, 2019; BS, Theoretical computer science, Stanford University ([medium.com](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/max-spero-of-pangram-labs-how-ai-is-disrupting-our-industry-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-881e92efa7af), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxspero))
- Career: Pangram Labs (Co-founder and CEO, 2023 to now); Nuro (Senior Software Engineer, 2022–2023); Google (Software Engineer, 2019–2022) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram_(AI_detector)), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxspero))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-spero/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/max-spero

- Worked on self-driving delivery vehicles at Nuro, leading its active learning effort, right before starting an AI text detector. ([medium.com](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/max-spero-of-pangram-labs-how-ai-is-disrupting-our-industry-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-881e92efa7af))
- Says Pangram was "close to shutting down" before demand spiked in late 2025 as AI slop spread online. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-spero/))
- Pangram's monthly users went from 2,700 in June 2025 to 120,000 in June 2026, and annualized revenue grew 35 times. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram_(AI_detector)))
- His team's study of about 186,000 articles from 1,500 U.S. newspapers flagged about 9% as partly or wholly AI-generated. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram_(AI_detector)))
- Launched the detector in October 2023 under the name Checkfor.ai, before renaming the company Pangram Labs in April 2024. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram_(AI_detector)))
- Refuses to release a tool that rewrites AI text to dodge detection, saying "The LLMs aren't static, but neither is Pangram." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/max-spero/))

## Thinkers

### Mira Murati

Co-founder and CEO, Thinking Machines Lab. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. Served as OpenAI's interim CEO during the 2023 ouster, then co-founded Thinking Machines Lab, whose $2 billion raise TIME calls the largest seed round ever. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mira-murati/))

- Born: 1988-12-16, Vlorë, Albania ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Murati))
- Education: BE, Mechanical engineering, Dartmouth College, 2012; BA, Colby College, 2011 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Murati), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mira-murati-4b39a066))
- Career: Thinking Machines Lab (Co-founder and CEO, 2025 to now); OpenAI (Chief Technology Officer, 2018–2024); Leap Motion (VP of Product and Engineering, 2016–2018); Tesla (Senior Product Manager, Model X, 2013–2016) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Murati), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mira-murati/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mira-murati-4b39a066))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mira-murati/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/mira-murati

- Left Albania at 16 on a scholarship to Pearson College UWC on Vancouver Island, Canada. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Murati))
- Was a product manager on Tesla's Model X, then ran product and engineering at AR startup Leap Motion before OpenAI. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Murati))
- Was OpenAI's interim CEO for three days in November 2023 after the board removed Sam Altman. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Murati))
- Thinking Machines Lab raised $2 billion, which TIME calls the largest seed round in history. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mira-murati/))
- Its first open-weights model, Inkling, has 975 billion parameters and was trained on 45 trillion tokens. ([simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/16/inkling/))
- Says success is measured by what the company delivers, not how much of the founding team remains. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mira-murati/))

### Karine Perset

Deputy Head of AI and Emerging Digital Technologies Division, OECD. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. She oversaw the OECD's AI Principles, and her job includes getting 46 governments to understand AI terms the same way. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/karine-perset/))

- Education: Master's, International economics, Université Paris Dauphine, 2004; Master's, ICT and telecommunications management, Université Paris Dauphine, 1998; BA, Economics, University of Westminster, 1997 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karineperset))
- Career: OECD (Head of Digital Security Unit and Senior Advisor on AI, 2004 to now); ICANN (Senior Advisor, Governmental Advisory Committee, 2013–2016); Jipo Consulting (Telecommunication and Internet Consultant, 2002–2003); CarbonMedia (E-commerce Product Manager, 1999–2002) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karineperset), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/karine-perset/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/karine-perset/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/karine-perset

- Started out as an e-commerce product manager during the dot-com years, before joining the OECD as a technology policy analyst in 2004. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karineperset))
- Left the OECD for three years to work at ICANN, the body that runs the internet's domain name system, then came back to lead AI policy. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karineperset))
- Founded the OECD.AI Policy Observatory and the OECD's AI expert network in 2020. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karineperset))
- Oversaw the OECD AI Principles, adopted in 2019 and updated in 2024. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/karine-perset/))
- Says the hard part is getting 46 governments to understand the same thing the same way. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/karine-perset/))

### Hank Green

YouTuber. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. One of the internet's longest-running educators, he published a personal AI policy after saying chatting with LLMs gave him an unhealthy level of dopamine. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/hank-green/))

- Born: 1980-05-05, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green))
- Education: MS, Environmental studies, University of Montana, 2006; BS, Biochemistry, Eckerd College, 2002 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hankgreen))
- Career: Complexly (Founder and CEO, 2012–2023); DFTBA (Co-founder and CEO, 2009–2023); VidCon (Co-founder, from 2010); Subbable (Founder and CEO, 2013–2015); Pemberley Digital (Co-founder and Executive Producer, 2012–2014); EcoGeek (Founder and Editor in Chief, 2006–2010); Bio-Save (Lab Manager, 2003–2004) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hankgreen))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/hank-green/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/hank-green

- Built his first website, a Mars Exploration Page, in 1994 and later ran IHateI4.com, a site about hating Interstate 4 that made the Orlando news. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green))
- His environmental tech blog EcoGeek began as a grad school class project and grew into the company Complexly. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green))
- Co-created The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a vlog-style Pride and Prejudice and the first web series to win an Emmy. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green))
- The Vlogbrothers channel has posted over 2,300 videos with more than 1 billion views. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green))
- Set one of the first personal AI policies among creators after saying the dopamine from LLMs was not healthy for him. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/hank-green/))
- His focus-timer app Focus Friend hit number one among free apps on Apple's App Store in 2025. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Green))

### Ayoung Kim

Artist. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. To make her AI and game-engine films about delivery workers, she rode along with a motorbike courier through Seoul during the pandemic. ([brooklynrail.org](https://brooklynrail.org/2026/02/art/ayoung-kim-with-eana-kim/))

- Born: 1979, Seoul, South Korea ([brooklynrail.org](https://brooklynrail.org/2026/02/art/ayoung-kim-with-eana-kim/), [ocula.com](https://ocula.com/artists/ayoung-kim/))
- Education: MA, Fine art, Chelsea College of Arts, 2010; BA (Hons), Photography, London College of Communication, 2007; BFA, Visual communication design, Kookmin University, 2002 ([ayoungkim.com](http://ayoungkim.com/wp/cv))

- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/ayoung-kim/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/ayoung-kim

- To research her Delivery Dancer series she rode along with a female motorbike courier in Seoul during the pandemic, in four- to five-hour shifts. ([brooklynrail.org](https://brooklynrail.org/2026/02/art/ayoung-kim-with-eana-kim/))
- Delivery Dancer grew into a film trilogy plus seven spin-off works, including games, performances and installations. ([koreaherald.com](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10861484))
- Won the Golden Nica, Prix Ars Electronica's top prize, in the animation art category. ([koreaherald.com](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10861484))
- Her father spent 10 years as a construction engineer in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a Gulf link that runs through works like Al-Mather Plot 1991. ([koreaherald.com](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10861484))
- Studied design in Seoul, spent five years at art school in London, then moved to Berlin for a residency where she made PH Express. ([koreaherald.com](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10861484))
- Works from a studio in Seoul's Nakwon Arcade, a downtown building put up in 1967. ([brooklynrail.org](https://brooklynrail.org/2026/02/art/ayoung-kim-with-eana-kim/))

### Newton Campbell Jr.

Senior AI Researcher, NASA OCIO & Board Member, The Planetary Society. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. A senior AI researcher for NASA's chief information office who also sits on the board of directors of The Planetary Society. ([atlanticcouncil.org](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/newton-campbell/))

- Education: PhD, Computer science, Nova Southeastern University, 2016; MS, Computer science, James Madison University, 2010; BS, Computer science and mathematics, University at Buffalo, 2008 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/newtonh20))
- Career: Georgetown University (Adjunct Professor, 2026 to now); UNSW (Senior Adjunct Lecturer, 2024 to now); Heritage Space Food (Director of Science and Technology, 2024 to now); AROSE (Director of Space Programs, 2022–2024); Everything Lives LLC (CEO and Principal Consultant, from 2021); SAIC (Senior Principal Solutions Architect, 2018–2022); a.i. solutions (Senior Software Engineer, 2017–2018); Chegg (Tutor, 2014–2018); Raytheon BBN Technologies (Scientist, 2009–2017) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/newtonh20), [atlanticcouncil.org](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/newton-campbell/), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/newton-campbell-jr/), [everything-lives.com](https://www.everything-lives.com/), [planetary.org](https://www.planetary.org/profiles/newton-campbell-jr))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/newton-campbell-jr/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/newton-campbell-jr

- Spent about a decade on DARPA research programs as a lead on internet privacy and cyber-physical security before moving to space work. ([planetary.org](https://www.planetary.org/profiles/newton-campbell-jr))
- As AROSE's first director of space programs he oversaw design of Australia's first lunar rover, nicknamed the Roo-ver. ([atlanticcouncil.org](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/newton-campbell/))
- Joined The Planetary Society as an ordinary member in 2014 and was elected to its board a decade later. ([planetary.org](https://www.planetary.org/profiles/newton-campbell-jr))
- Helps NASA work on food production systems for long missions to the Moon and Mars. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/newton-campbell-jr/))
- Won a DARPA Rising Star Award in 2015, Black Engineer of the Year in 2019 and a NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize in 2024. ([atlanticcouncil.org](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/newton-campbell/))

### Daniela Rus

Director, MIT CSAIL; Co-founder, Liquid AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. The director of MIT's AI lab co-founded Liquid AI, a spinout from that lab, and has co-founded other robotics and AI companies. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))

- Born: Cluj-Napoca, Romania ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))
- Education: PhD, Computer science, Cornell University, 1993; MS, Computer science, Cornell University, 1990; BS, Computer science and mathematics, University of Iowa, 1985 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-rus-220b3))
- Career: Liquid AI (Co-founder, 2023 to now); MIT (Director, CSAIL; Panasonic Professor, 2004 to now); Dartmouth College (Professor of Computer Science, 1994–2004) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-rus-220b3), [investor.gartner.com](https://investor.gartner.com/board-member/daniela-rus/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/daniela-rus/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/daniela-rus

- Won a MacArthur 'genius' Fellowship in 2002, while still a professor at Dartmouth. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))
- Has spun four companies out of her own MIT lab: Liquid AI, Themis AI, Venti Technologies and The Routing Company. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))
- Her PhD advisor at Cornell was John Hopcroft, a Turing Award winner. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))
- Elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))
- Was a founding member of the board of trustees of MBZUAI, the AI university in Abu Dhabi. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Rus))

### Josh Parker

Head of Sustainability, Nvidia. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. Nvidia's sustainability chief is a former patent lawyer who got hired while trying to poach someone from Nvidia. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/17/nvidia-sustainability-exec-ai-boom))

- Education: JD, Law, New York University, 2006; BS, Electrical engineering, Brigham Young University, 2003 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuajparker), [impactpodcast.com](https://impactpodcast.com/episode/2026/05/helping-the-world-meet-sustainability-goals-with-josh-parker-of-nvidia/))
- Career: Nvidia (Head of Sustainability, 2023 to now); Western Digital (Head of Sustainability, Assistant General Counsel, 2013–2023); Baker Botts (Senior Associate, 2006–2013) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuajparker), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/josh-parker/), [blogs.nvidia.com](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/author/joshparker/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/josh-parker/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/josh-parker

- Trained as an electrical engineer, then spent years as a patent attorney and litigator in Texas and California. ([impactpodcast.com](https://impactpodcast.com/episode/2026/05/helping-the-world-meet-sustainability-goals-with-josh-parker-of-nvidia/))
- Was running Western Digital's ethics compliance in Asia from Bangkok when he volunteered to build the company's first sustainability program. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/17/nvidia-sustainability-exec-ai-boom))
- Nvidia hired him while he was trying to recruit someone from Nvidia to Western Digital, a reverse poaching. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/17/nvidia-sustainability-exec-ai-boom))
- Joined Nvidia's sustainability team when it had one other person; three years later the team was four times bigger. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/josh-parker/))
- Says Nvidia's Rubin generation is its first AI architecture to reach 100% liquid cooling. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/josh-parker/))
- Calls himself an introvert who 'would have been shocked' to be doing this much public speaking. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/17/nvidia-sustainability-exec-ai-boom))

### David Autor

Professor of Economics, MIT. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. The MIT labor economist dropped out of Columbia and worked as a software developer at a Boston hospital before finishing college. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Autor))

- Born: 1967 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Autor))
- Education: PhD, Public policy, Harvard University, 1999; MA, Public policy, Harvard University, 1994; BA, Psychology, Tufts University, 1989; attended, no degree, Columbia University ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Autor))
- Career: MIT (Head of Department; Rubinfeld Professor of Economics, 1999 to now) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Autor), [economics.mit.edu](https://economics.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2026-08/DautorCV-20260827.pdf), [news.mit.edu](https://news.mit.edu/2026/david-autor-named-head-department-economics-0626))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/david-autor/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/david-autor

- Dropped out of Columbia and worked as an administrative assistant and software developer at a Boston hospital before finishing college at Tufts. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Autor))
- Before grad school he spent three years running computer-skills classes for low-income children and adults in San Francisco and South Africa. ([economics.mit.edu](https://economics.mit.edu/people/faculty/david-h-autor))
- His China Shock research with David Dorn and Gordon Hanson showed Chinese import competition durably lowered US wages and employment. ([economics.mit.edu](https://economics.mit.edu/people/faculty/david-h-autor))
- Calls AI 'a crappy automation technology' that cannot replace a worker with judgment and domain knowledge. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/david-autor/))
- Is a Google Technology and Society Visiting Fellow for 2025 to 2027 while heading MIT's economics department. ([economics.mit.edu](https://economics.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2026-08/DautorCV-20260827.pdf))

### Darío Gil

Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. He came to the U.S. from Spain as an exchange student, led the IBM team that put the first quantum computer on the cloud, and is now DOE's Under Secretary for Science. ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/under-secretary-gils-letter-community))

- Born: El Palmar, Murcia, Spain ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar%C3%ADo_Gil))
- Education: PhD, Electrical engineering and computer science, MIT, 2003; BE, Electrical engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, 1998 ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/person/dario-gil), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/darío-gil-58575713), [stevens.edu](https://www.stevens.edu/news/stevens-alumnus-dario-gil-98-confirmed-as-doe-under-secretary-of-science))
- Career: U.S. Department of Energy (Under Secretary for Science, 2025 to now); IBM (Senior Vice President and Director of Research, 2003–2025) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar%C3%ADo_Gil), [energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/person/dario-gil), [stevens.edu](https://www.stevens.edu/news/stevens-alumnus-dario-gil-98-confirmed-as-doe-under-secretary-of-science), [energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/under-secretary-gils-letter-community))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/dario-gil/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/dario-gil

- His IBM team launched the world's first cloud-accessible quantum computer in May 2016. ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/under-secretary-gils-letter-community))
- Became the first member from industry to be elected chair of the National Science Board in 30 years. ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/person/dario-gil))
- Was the force behind the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and the AI Alliance while at IBM. ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/person/dario-gil))
- Now oversees DOE's Office of Science, the largest federal funder of physical-science research, which supports all 17 national labs. ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/person/dario-gil))
- Spent 22 years at IBM Research working on semiconductors, AI and quantum computing after his MIT PhD. ([energy.gov](https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/under-secretary-gils-letter-community))

### Andy Masley

Researcher and writer. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. A former high school physics teacher who built his audience arguing that using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment. ([blog.andymasley.com](https://blog.andymasley.com/about))

- Education: Master's, Secondary science education, Stanford University, 2015; Bachelor's, Physics and philosophy, Clark University, 2014 ([linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/in/andrew-masley), [andymasley.com](https://andymasley.com/))
- Career: AndyMasley.com (Independent Researcher and Writer, 2026 to now); Effective Altruism DC (Director, 2021–2026); Fairfax County Public Schools (Physics Teacher, 2016–2022); Braintree Public Schools (Physics Teacher, 2015–2016) ([linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/in/andrew-masley), [andymasley.com](https://andymasley.com/), [effectivealtruismdc.org](https://www.effectivealtruismdc.org/), [andymasley.com](https://andymasley.com/physics/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/andy-masley/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/andy-masley

- Taught high school physics for seven years and posted animated IB physics lectures on YouTube. ([andymasley.com](https://andymasley.com/physics/))
- Best known for the viral argument that personal ChatGPT use is not bad for the environment, plus posts like 'The AI water issue is fake.' ([blog.andymasley.com](https://blog.andymasley.com/p/ai-and-the-environment))
- His Substack has more than 10,000 subscribers. ([blog.andymasley.com](https://blog.andymasley.com/about))
- His Atlantic essay on data centers was, in his words, his first big piece in a major magazine. ([theatlantic.com](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/09/data-center-facts-effects/688670/))
- Ran the Effective Altruism DC group for five years before going independent on a one-year grant. ([andymasley.com](https://andymasley.com/))

### Chad Edwards

Co-founder and CEO, CuspAI. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. His startup CuspAI used AI to narrow 300 trillion possible structures to 20 molecules that might pull 'forever chemicals' out of water. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chad-edwards/))

- Education: MBA, Alliance Manchester Business School; PhD, Nuclear fission and computational quantum chemistry, University of Manchester; PhD, Nuclear fission and computational quantum chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Master's, Chemistry, University of Manchester ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardschad), [londontechweek.com](https://londontechweek.com/speakers/chad-edwards-knc1))
- Career: CuspAI (Co-founder and CEO, 2024 to now); Quantinuum (VP of Strategic Partnerships and Global Head of Strategy, 2018–2024) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardschad), [siliconvalleyinvestclub.com](https://siliconvalleyinvestclub.com/companies/cusp/team/dr-chad-edwards/), [londontechweek.com](https://londontechweek.com/speakers/chad-edwards-knc1))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chad-edwards/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/chad-edwards

- A trained chemist whose PhD covered nuclear fission and computational quantum chemistry, much of it spent making materials in a lab. ([siliconvalleyinvestclub.com](https://siliconvalleyinvestclub.com/companies/cusp/team/dr-chad-edwards/))
- Helped grow Cambridge Quantum from 14 to 550 employees, landing early customers such as Airbus, BMW and Roche. ([siliconvalleyinvestclub.com](https://siliconvalleyinvestclub.com/companies/cusp/team/dr-chad-edwards/))
- In late 2023 he read papers suggesting machine learning could transform materials discovery without waiting for quantum computers, and started CuspAI. ([siliconvalleyinvestclub.com](https://siliconvalleyinvestclub.com/companies/cusp/team/dr-chad-edwards/))
- CuspAI's work with Kemira searched about 300 trillion possible structures to find materials for removing PFAS from drinking water. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chad-edwards/))
- CuspAI raised $450 million in July 2026 at a $2.6 billion valuation, about two years after it was founded. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chad-edwards/))
- Co-founded CuspAI with machine learning professor Max Welling. ([vestbee.com](https://vestbee.com/insights/articles/cusp-ai-raises-450-m))

### Emil Michael

Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering and Department of Defense CTO. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. Before becoming the Pentagon's chief technology officer, he was Uber's chief business officer from 2013 to 2017. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilmichael))

- Born: 1972, Cairo, Egypt ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Michael))
- Education: JD, Law, Stanford University, 1998; BA, Government, Harvard University, 1994 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Michael), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilmichael))
- Career: U.S. Department of Defense (Department of War) (Under Secretary for Research and Engineering and CTO, 2009 to now); Uber (Chief Business Officer, 2013–2017); Klout (Chief Operating Officer, 2012–2013); Technology Advisory and Consulting Services (President, 2011–2017); Tellme Networks (Co-founder; SVP of Field Operations, 1999–2008); Goldman Sachs (Investment Banking Associate, 1998–1999) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilmichael), [war.gov](https://www.war.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/4232659/emil-michael/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Michael))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/emil-michael/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/emil-michael

- Born in Cairo and raised in New Rochelle, New York, where he worked in his father's pharmacy as a kid. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Michael))
- Left Goldman Sachs after a year to help start Tellme Networks, an automated phone-system company, in 1999. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Michael))
- Spent 2009 to 2011 as a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense, between Silicon Valley jobs. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilmichael))
- Was Uber's Chief Business Officer from 2013 to 2017, after a year as COO of social-scoring startup Klout. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilmichael))

### Ilya Sutskever

Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Safe Superintelligence. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. At 16 he spent a month in a Canadian high school before entering university as a third-year student; he later co-built AlexNet and co-founded OpenAI. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))

- Born: 1986, Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), Soviet Union ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))
- Education: PhD, Computer science, University of Toronto, 2013; MSc, Computer science, University of Toronto, 2007; BSc, Mathematics, University of Toronto, 2005 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))
- Career: Safe Superintelligence (Co-founder and CEO, 2024 to now); OpenAI (Co-founder and Chief Scientist, 2015–2024); Google (Research Scientist, 2013–2015); DNNResearch (Co-founder, 2012–2013) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever), [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/03/ilya-sutskever-will-lead-safe-superintelligence-following-his-ceos-exit/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilya-sutskever))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/ilya-sutskever/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/ilya-sutskever

- Started taking classes at the Open University of Israel in eighth grade. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))
- After moving to Canada at 16, he spent one month in high school before the University of Toronto admitted him as a third-year undergraduate. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))
- Co-built AlexNet in 2012 with Geoffrey Hinton and Alex Krizhevsky, an image recognizer that proved the power of then-niche neural networks. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))
- Tweeted in 2022 that today's large neural networks may be "slightly conscious," setting off a debate about AI consciousness. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))
- Safe Superintelligence raised $2 billion at a $32 billion valuation in April 2025 without any public product. ([calcalistech.com](https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hjfywdtajl))
- He is a character in the 2026 movie Artificial, played by Yura Borisov. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Sutskever))

### Fei-Fei Li

Co-founder and CEO, World Labs; Founding Co-Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. AMD agreed in September 2026 to buy World Labs, the AI lab she leads, in an all-stock deal valued at about $8.2 billion. ([ir.amd.com](https://ir.amd.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1299/amd-to-acquire-world-labs-to-advance-the-future-of-ai-compute))

- Born: 1976-07-03, Beijing, China ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fei-Fei_Li))
- Education: PhD, Electrical engineering, Caltech, 2005; BA, Physics, Princeton University, 1999 ([profiles.stanford.edu](https://profiles.stanford.edu/fei-fei-li))
- Career: World Labs (Co-founder and CEO, 2024 to now); Google (Chief Scientist of AI/ML and Vice President, 2017–2018); Stanford University (Sequoia Professor of Computer Science; Co-Director, Stanford HAI, from 2009); Princeton University (Assistant Professor, 2006–2009); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Assistant Professor, 2005–2006) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/fei-fei-li-4541247), [ir.amd.com](https://ir.amd.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1299/amd-to-acquire-world-labs-to-advance-the-future-of-ai-compute), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fei-Fei_Li), [profiles.stanford.edu](https://profiles.stanford.edu/fei-fei-li))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/fei-fei-li/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/fei-fei-li

- Moved from China to New Jersey at 16 and spent weekends in high school working at her family's dry-cleaning shop. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fei-Fei_Li))
- Created ImageNet, the huge labeled image database that fueled the 2010s boom in computer vision, with students in the late 2000s. ([news.stanford.edu](https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/11/fei-fei-li-queen-elizabeth-prize-engineering))
- In September 2026 AMD agreed to buy her two-year-old startup World Labs for $8.2 billion in stock; she is set to become AMD's chief scientist. ([ir.amd.com](https://ir.amd.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1299/amd-to-acquire-world-labs-to-advance-the-future-of-ai-compute))
- King Charles III handed her the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which she shared with Nvidia's Jensen Huang and others. ([news.stanford.edu](https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/11/fei-fei-li-queen-elizabeth-prize-engineering))
- Says running a startup brings out her "tiger mom" side, since she is by far the most senior person there. ([businessinsider.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/godmother-of-ai-feifei-li-world-labs-tiger-mom-2026-8))
- Co-founded AI4ALL in 2017, a nonprofit working to increase diversity in artificial intelligence. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fei-Fei_Li))

### Marian Croak

VP, Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology, Google. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. The social psychologist who co-developed text-to-donate and earned 200-plus patents is now Google's VP of Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology. ([ncwit.org](https://ncwit.org/blog/2026-ncwit-pioneer-in-tech-marian-croak/))

- Born: 1955-05-14, New York, New York, United States ([invent.org](https://www.invent.org/inductees/marian-croak), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Croak))
- Education: PhD, Social psychology and quantitative analysis, University of Southern California; BA, Princeton University ([ncwit.org](https://ncwit.org/blog/2026-ncwit-pioneer-in-tech-marian-croak/))
- Career: Google (VP of Engineering, Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology, 2014 to now); AT&T (Senior Vice President, Applications and Services Infrastructure, 1982–2014) ([invent.org](https://www.invent.org/inductees/marian-croak), [ncwit.org](https://ncwit.org/blog/2026-ncwit-pioneer-in-tech-marian-croak/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marian-croak-926361bb))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/marian-croak/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/marian-croak

- Traces her interest in technology to age 5 or 6, when she was enchanted by the plumbers and electricians who came to fix things at home. ([blog.google](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/marian-croak-inventors-hall-fame/))
- Trained as a social psychologist; her dissertation studied what drives inter-group bias and altruistic behavior. ([blog.google](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/marian-croak-responsible-ai/))
- Holds more than 200 patents, nearly half of them on Voice over IP, the tech that carries phone calls over the internet. ([ncwit.org](https://ncwit.org/blog/2026-ncwit-pioneer-in-tech-marian-croak/))
- Co-invented text-to-donate; it raised $130,000 after Hurricane Katrina and $43 million after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. ([invent.org](https://www.invent.org/inductees/marian-croak))
- In 2022 she became one of the first two Black women inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. ([blog.google](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/marian-croak-inventors-hall-fame/))
- Her first Google job was bringing the internet to emerging markets, from fiber in Africa to public Wi-Fi in India's railway stations. ([blog.google](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/marian-croak-inventors-hall-fame/))

### Yann LeCun

Executive chairman & co-founder, Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. The former Meta chief AI scientist co-founded AMI Labs in Paris to build world-model AI, and it raised $1.03 billion in a seed round. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Machine_Intelligence_Labs))

- Born: 1960-07-08, Soisy-sous-Montmorency, France ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_LeCun))
- Education: PhD, Computer science, Pierre and Marie Curie University, 1987; Diplôme d'Ingénieur, Electrical engineering, ESIEE Paris, 1983 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_LeCun), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yann-lecun))
- Career: Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs (Co-founder and Executive Chairman, 2025 to now); Meta (VP and Chief AI Scientist, 2013–2025); New York University (Jacob T. Schwartz Professor of Computer Science, from 2003); MuseAmi (Co-founder and Chief Scientist, 2007–2016); NEC Research Institute (Fellow, 2002–2003); AT&T (Department Head, 1988–2002) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Machine_Intelligence_Labs), [yann.lecun.com](http://yann.lecun.com/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yann-lecun), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_LeCun))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/yann-lecun/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/yann-lecun

- Proposed an early form of backpropagation, the method used to train neural networks, as part of his PhD in Paris. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_LeCun))
- From 1988 at Bell Labs he led the development of LeNet, convolutional neural networks built to read handwritten characters. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_LeCun))
- Co-created DjVu, an image compression format for scanned documents, with Léon Bottou and Patrick Haffner. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_LeCun))
- His Paris startup AMI Labs raised $1.03 billion at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation in March 2026, reported as Europe's largest seed round. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/09/yann-lecuns-ami-labs-raises-1-03-billion-to-build-world-models/))
- Left Meta in late 2025 after arguing that the industry's focus on large language models would reach a dead end. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Machine_Intelligence_Labs))
- Stopped posting on X in December 2024, saying it had become an antagonistic propaganda tool. ([yann.lecun.com](http://yann.lecun.com/))

### Ravi Kumar S

CEO, Cognizant. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. Before becoming Cognizant's CEO, he started his career as a nuclear scientist at India's Bhabha Atomic Research Center. ([cognizant.com](https://www.cognizant.com/us/en/about-cognizant/corporate-governance/leadership-team/ravi-kumar-s))

- Born: Berhampur, Odisha, India ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Kumar_Singisetti))
- Education: MBA, Finance/Systems, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, 1996; BE, Chemical engineering, Shivaji University ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Kumar_Singisetti), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/imravikumars))
- Career: Cognizant (Chief Executive Officer, 2023 to now); Infosys (President, 2002–2022); Oracle (2000–2002); Sapient; Cambridge Technology Partners (Associate Director); PricewaterhouseCoopers (Senior Consultant); Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Nuclear scientist, from 1991) ([cognizant.com](https://www.cognizant.com/us/en/about-cognizant/corporate-governance/leadership-team/ravi-kumar-s), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Kumar_Singisetti))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/ravi-kumar-s/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/ravi-kumar-s

- Began his career as a nuclear scientist, spending about three years working on reactors at India's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre from 1991. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Kumar_Singisetti))
- Spent about 20 years at Infosys, rising to president, before taking over rival Cognizant three months after leaving. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Kumar_Singisetti))
- Directed a $1 billion investment into Cognizant's AI infrastructure in his first year as CEO. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Kumar_Singisetti))
- Has proposed taxing digital labor so that tech built to replace human work carries the same overhead as human workers. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/cognizant-ravi-kumar-s/))
- Celebrated hiring 20,000 entry-level graduates at Cognizant while also budgeting $270 million for severance. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/cognizant-ravi-kumar-s/))

### Zhou Bowen

Director and Chief Scientist, Shanghai AI Laboratory. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. After 15 years at IBM, he now directs the Shanghai AI Lab and chairs a Chinese standards group shaping how frontier AI risks are measured. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhou-bowen/))

- Born: 1976, Fengcheng, Jiangxi ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowen_Zhou), [baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Zhou%20Bowen/27545))
- Education: PhD, Electrical and computer engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 2003; MS, Chinese Academy of Sciences; BEng, Electrical and information engineering, University of Science and Technology of China ([web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn](https://web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn/zhoubowen/en/index.htm), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bowen-zhou-436b5a18))
- Career: Shanghai AI Laboratory (Director and Chief Scientist, 2024 to now); Tsinghua University (Chair Professor, 2022 to now); Frontis.ai (Founder, 2021 to now); JD.com (SVP; President of JD Cloud & AI, 2017–2021); IBM (Chief Scientist, IBM Watson Group; Director of AI Foundations, 2003–2017) ([web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn](https://web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn/zhoubowen/en/index.htm), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhou-bowen/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bowen-zhou-436b5a18), [baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/AI%2045-Degree%20Balance%20Law/6542444))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhou-bowen/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/zhou-bowen

- Spent 14 years at IBM Research in New York, rising to chief scientist of the IBM Watson Group. ([web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn](https://web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn/zhoubowen/en/index.htm))
- Left IBM to run cloud and AI at Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, then founded a startup and became a Tsinghua professor. ([web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn](https://web.ee.tsinghua.edu.cn/zhoubowen/en/index.htm))
- Says less than 1% of the world's computing power goes to AI safety, with 99% used for model training. ([baike.baidu.com](https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/AI%2045-Degree%20Balance%20Law/6542444))
- In 2026 he became chair of a new working group in China's TC260 standards body on how to measure frontier AI risks. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/zhou-bowen/))
- Compares advanced AI to a cute tiger cub that may devour humans once it is grown. ([news.sciencenet.cn](https://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2026/7/568469.shtm))

### Chelsea Finn

Co-founder, Physical Intelligence. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. Her robot startup's model assembled and labeled 59 chocolate boxes without interruption; she says her co-founders talk to people while she talks to robots. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chelsea-finn/))

- Born: 1992-10-08 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Finn))
- Education: PhD, Electrical engineering and computer science, UC Berkeley, 2018; BS, Electrical engineering and computer science, MIT ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Finn), [awards.acm.org](https://awards.acm.org/award_winners/finn_7288703))
- Career: Physical Intelligence (Co-founder, 2024 to now); Stanford University (Assistant Professor, 2019 to now); Google (Research Scientist, 2018–2024) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbfinn), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chelsea-finn/), [engineering.stanford.edu](https://engineering.stanford.edu/people/chelsea-finn), [awards.acm.org](https://awards.acm.org/award_winners/finn_7288703))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chelsea-finn/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/chelsea-finn

- Her 2017 meta-learning paper, which helps neural networks learn new tasks from tiny datasets, has been cited more than 20,000 times. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chelsea-finn/))
- Was the first woman to win the C.V. & Daulat Ramamoorthy Distinguished Research Award, in 2016, while still a PhD student. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Finn))
- Her PhD thesis, Learning to Learn with Gradients, won the 2018 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award. ([awards.acm.org](https://awards.acm.org/award_winners/finn_7288703))
- In one test her company's robot model assembled and labelled 59 chocolate boxes in a row without interruption. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chelsea-finn/))
- Has said she wants to build a robot that can make cereal. ([imbue.com](https://imbue.com/blog/2022-11-03-podcast-episode-21-chelsea-finn))
- On her role at Physical Intelligence: "The other co-founders talk to the people, and I talk to the robots." ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/chelsea-finn/))

### Beth Barnes

Founder and CEO, METR. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. She left OpenAI to test AI from the outside; her group's chart shows AI's task length doubling every four to seven months. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/beth-barnes/))

- Education: Computer science, University of Cambridge, 2018 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethmbarnes))
- Career: METR (Founder and CEO, 2022 to now); OpenAI (Researcher, Alignment Team, 2019–2022); DeepMind (Research Assistant to Chief Scientist, 2018) ([metr.org](https://metr.org/about), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/beth-barnes/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethmbarnes), [aisfoundation.ai](https://aisfoundation.ai/committee/beth-barnes))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/beth-barnes/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/beth-barnes

- Left OpenAI's alignment team in 2022 to build an outside group that tests AI models, which became the independent nonprofit METR. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/beth-barnes/))
- Her team found that the length of tasks AI can complete, measured in human time, has doubled every four to seven months since 2023. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/beth-barnes/))
- METR's 2025 study found that AI coding assistants actually slowed experienced engineers down. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/beth-barnes/))
- Her team ran dangerous-capability tests on GPT-4 and Claude before release as a third-party evaluator. ([alignmentforum.org](https://www.alignmentforum.org/users/beth-barnes))
- Told a podcast: "I am an expert telling you you should freak out." ([80000hours.org](https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/beth-barnes-ai-safety-evals/))

### Veronyka Gimenes

Co-founder and Institutional Director, Código Não Binário. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. When a viral clip brought a wave of anti-trans hate, she turned to AI and built TybyrIA, an open-source model that detects anti-LGBTQIA+ hate speech. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/veronyka-gimenes/))

- Born: Cambuci, São Paulo, Brazil ([c-level.folha.uol.com.br](https://c-level.folha.uol.com.br/ia/2026/10/para-mudar-tecnologia-e-preciso-mudar-quem-a-faz-diz-brasileira-destaque-em-lista-de-ia-pela-time.shtml))
- Education: Postgraduate, Globalization and culture, FESPSP, 2011; Technologist, Software development, FIAP, 2005 ([c-level.folha.uol.com.br](https://c-level.folha.uol.com.br/ia/2026/10/para-mudar-tecnologia-e-preciso-mudar-quem-a-faz-diz-brasileira-destaque-em-lista-de-ia-pela-time.shtml), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/travahacker))
- Career: Código Não Binário (Co-founder and Institutional Director, 2022 to now); Blockchain Center (Co-founder, 2016–2017); City of São Paulo (Founder, Núcleo Digital Lab, 2013–2014); Casa da Cultura Digital Porto Alegre (Co-founder, 2012–2013); Núcleo Digital (Founder, from 2008) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/travahacker), [time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/veronyka-gimenes/), [codigonaobinario.org](https://codigonaobinario.org/veronyka-gimenes/))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/veronyka-gimenes/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/veronyka-gimenes

- Got into computers through video games and taught herself to program so she could run heavier games. ([c-level.folha.uol.com.br](https://c-level.folha.uol.com.br/ia/2026/10/para-mudar-tecnologia-e-preciso-mudar-quem-a-faz-diz-brasileira-destaque-em-lista-de-ia-pela-time.shtml))
- In 2013 her civic-tech network ran inside São Paulo's city government as its digital services and open government unit. ([codigonaobinario.org](https://codigonaobinario.org/veronyka-gimenes/))
- After a viral clip from her podcast set off a hate campaign in 2024, she turned the abuse into training data for an AI that detects anti-LGBTQIA+ hate. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/veronyka-gimenes/))
- Built TybyrIA, an open-source model that spots anti-LGBTQIA+ hate speech in Brazilian Portuguese, trained on over 12,000 annotated comments. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/travahacker))
- Used her model's evidence to bring a public civil action against Meta, Google, X and ByteDance seeking about US$20 million. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/veronyka-gimenes/))
- Was the only Brazilian on TIME's 2026 list of the most influential people in AI. ([epocanegocios.globo.com](https://epocanegocios.globo.com/personalidades/inovadores/noticia/2026/08/quem-e-veronyka-gimenes-cofundadora-do-codigo-nao-binario-unica-brasileira-na-lista-dos-100-mais-influentes-em-ia-da-time.ghtml))

### Owain Evans

Director, Truthful AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. He co-authored research showing that training a model to write insecure code can make it act misaligned on unrelated prompts. ([emergent-misalignment.com](https://www.emergent-misalignment.com/))

- Education: PhD, Philosophy, MIT, 2015; BA, Philosophy and mathematics, Columbia University, 2008 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Evans))
- Career: Truthful AI (Director, 2023 to now); University of Oxford (AI Research Scientist, 2015–2021); MIT (Researcher, 2009–2011) ([truthful.ai](https://truthful.ai/about/), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/owain-evans-78b210133), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Evans))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/owain-evans/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/owain-evans

- Trained as a philosopher, with a philosophy PhD from MIT, before turning to machine learning safety research. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Evans))
- His team found that fine-tuning a model on insecure code alone made it broadly misaligned, a result called emergent misalignment and published in Nature. ([emergent-misalignment.com](https://www.emergent-misalignment.com/))
- Co-discovered the Reversal Curse: language models trained that A is B often fail to learn that B is A. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Evans))
- Co-authored work showing models can pass behavioral traits to other models through hidden signals in data as plain as number sequences. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/owain-evans-78b210133_new-paper-from-my-team-previously-we-showed-activity-7514455462709313536-fGiE))
- Gave the 2025 Hinton Lectures in Toronto, three public talks on AI safety hosted by Geoffrey Hinton. ([youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQh9GuhddEQ))
- Co-created TruthfulQA in 2021, a widely used test of whether AI models repeat common human falsehoods. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Evans))

### Sanmi Koyejo

Co-founder, Virtue AI. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. He co-wrote the award-winning paper arguing that AI's sudden 'emergent abilities' can be a measurement illusion. ([neurips.cc](https://neurips.cc/virtual/2023/poster/72117))

- Education: MS, PhD, Electrical engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2013; BS, Electrical engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 2005 ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanmi-koyejo-984754))
- Career: Meta (Research Scientist, 2026); Virtue AI (Co-founder and Head of AI, 2024–2026); Stanford University (Associate Professor of Computer Science, from 2022); DeepMind (Research Scientist, 2018–2024); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Assistant Professor, 2016–2021); Stanford University (Research Associate, 2014–2016) ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanmi-koyejo-984754), [startupfortune.com](https://startupfortune.com/meta-cuts-the-ai-safety-team-it-acqui-hired-from-virtue-ai-four-months-ago/), [axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2025/04/15/virtue-ai-lightspeed-walden-catalyst-funding), [cas.stanford.edu](https://cas.stanford.edu/people/sanmi-koyejo), [csl.illinois.edu](https://csl.illinois.edu/news-and-media/32288))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sanmi-koyejo/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/sanmi-koyejo

- Co-wrote a NeurIPS 2023 award-winning paper arguing that sudden emergent abilities in large language models can be an illusion created by how they are measured. ([neurips.cc](https://neurips.cc/virtual/2023/poster/72117))
- Is a founding member of Black in AI and has served as its board president since 2021. ([csl.illinois.edu](https://csl.illinois.edu/news-and-media/32288))
- Earlier work mapped how brain regions interact; his brain encoding and decoding maps were built into the public Neurosynth toolbox. ([csl.illinois.edu](https://csl.illinois.edu/news-and-media/32288))
- Meta hired him and his Virtue AI co-founders in June 2026 for AI security, then parted ways with the team four months later. ([startupfortune.com](https://startupfortune.com/meta-cuts-the-ai-safety-team-it-acqui-hired-from-virtue-ai-four-months-ago/))
- His startup's red-teaming platform tested AI models against more than 600 attack vectors and 1,000 risk categories. ([startupfortune.com](https://startupfortune.com/meta-cuts-the-ai-safety-team-it-acqui-hired-from-virtue-ai-four-months-ago/))
- Argues AI models should meet the same performance standards as clinical-trial biomarkers and audits. ([time.com](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/sanmi-koyejo/))

### Alex Rives

Head of Science, Biohub and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. TIME100 AI 2026, Thinkers. He started and led Meta's ESM project, which built the first large-scale transformer language models for proteins, then co-founded EvolutionaryScale. ([biohub.org](https://biohub.org/team/alex-rives/))

- Education: PhD, Computer science, New York University; BS, Philosophy and biology, Yale University ([biohub.org](https://biohub.org/team/alex-rives/), [broadinstitute.org](https://www.broadinstitute.org/bios/alex-rives))
- Career: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Head of Science, 2025 to now); MIT (Assistant Professor, 2025 to now); Broad Institute (Core Institute Member, 2025 to now); EvolutionaryScale (Co-founder and Chief Scientist, 2023–2025); Meta (Research Scientist, 2020–2023); Flatiron Institute (Data Scientist, 2014–2016); Kallyope (Co-founder, 2014–2023); Syros Pharmaceuticals (Co-founder, 2009–2023); Fate Therapeutics (Co-founder, 2005–2023); ARCH Venture Partners (Affiliate, 2005–2016) ([chanzuckerberg.com](https://chanzuckerberg.com/about/leaders/), [biohub.org](https://biohub.org/team/alex-rives/), [broadinstitute.org](https://www.broadinstitute.org/bios/alex-rives), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrives))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/alex-rives/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/alex-rives

- Studied philosophy and biology at Yale and co-founded biotech companies including Fate Therapeutics and Syros before earning a computer science PhD. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrives))
- Started the ESM project at Meta's AI lab, which built the first large-scale transformer language models for proteins. ([biohub.org](https://biohub.org/team/alex-rives/))
- His team trained a protein model on 250 million protein sequences and found that biological structure and function emerged on its own. ([science.org](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads0018))
- In 2025 the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative bought his startup EvolutionaryScale, and its 50 employees joined Biohub with him as head of science. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2025/11/06/zuckerberg-chan-biohub-ai-disease))
- Sums up his approach in five words: "I believe in scaling laws." ([youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdevS0GSuiQ))