OpenAI Welcomes Professor Zico Kolter From Carnegie Mellon To Its Board Of Directors
Kolter, who holds a PhD in computer science from Stanford University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, has a history of influential work in AI safety.
OpenAI has appointed Zico Kolter, a professor and director at Carnegie Mellon University's machine learning department, to its board of directors. Kolter's appointment is particularly notable given his expertise in AI safety, a critical area for OpenAI, especially following recent high-profile departures, including Ilya Sutskever and members of his "Superalignment" team, according to news reports by Techcrunch.
Kolter will also join the board's Safety and Security Committee, which oversees safety and security measures for OpenAI's projects. The committee, which includes a mix of internal and external members, has faced scrutiny regarding its composition and effectiveness in addressing safety concerns.
OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor expressed enthusiasm about the appointment: “Zico adds deep technical understanding and perspective in AI safety and robustness that will help us ensure general artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.”
Kolter's background includes a PhD from Stanford University and postdoctoral work at MIT. He has also held roles such as chief data scientist at C3.ai and chief technical advisor at AI startup Gray Swan. His research focuses on AI safety, including challenges related to automated optimization techniques that could circumvent existing safeguards.
