TIME100 AI 2026 · Innovators
Michael Truell
Co-founder and CEO, Cursor
In 2016 he co-created Halite, a programming contest where players build AI bots that battle each other.
- Born
- New York City, United States
- Now
- AI, SpaceX
- Studied
- MIT
Interesting facts
- Early start
In 2016, two years before starting at MIT, he co-created the AI programming contest Halite and brought it to Two Sigma.
linkedin.com - Early start
Spent the summer of 2017 at MIT's Research Science Institute working on probabilistic programming.
linkedin.com - Before AI
Interned at Google in 2019 on language models for feed ranking, three years before starting Cursor.
linkedin.com - Detour
Spent 2020 interning at Octant, a biotech startup, on computational chemistry.
linkedin.com - Turning point
Announced in August 2026 that Cursor was officially part of SpaceXAI.
linkedin.com
Career
- SpaceXAI, SpaceXAI2026 to now
- CursorCo-founder and CEO2022–2026
Education
- Bachelor's, Computer science and mathematics, MIT, 2021
Sources1linkedin.com
