Dan Hendrycks is an exceptional leader and brilliant mind in artificial intelligence, significantly impacting the development of safe and trustworthy AI. He graduated from the University of Chicago and earned a PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, mentored by renowned experts Dawn Song and Jacob Steinhardt. His work was supported by prestigious awards, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Open Philanthropy AI Fellowship, highlighting his remarkable talent.
As the co-founder and director of the Center for AI Safety (CAIS) in San Francisco, established in 2022, Dan leads efforts to enhance AI safety through cutting-edge research and fostering a community of experts. He also advises leading companies like xAI and Scale AI, guiding them in building safe and beneficial AI systems.
Dan’s innovations are transformative. He developed the Gaussian Error Linear Units (GELU), a critical component used in top AI models like BERT and GPT-3, improving their performance and efficiency. His research, cited nearly 50,000 times, includes tools such as ImageNet-C, MMLU, and MATH, which are instrumental in testing and enhancing AI systems to address real-world challenges.
Beyond his research, Dan is a compelling and inspiring communicator. He collaborates closely with key industry leaders, writes influential articles, appears on podcasts and in interviews, and is a prominent voice in the field.
Named to Forbes’ 2025 30 Under 30 list in AI, Dan’s brilliance, dedication, and commitment to advancing safe and beneficial AI make him a vital figure in shaping humanity’s future.
