Intelligence Briefing
Co-inventor of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), the most cited neural network of the 20th century. Also pioneered Highway Networks (precursor to ResNets), Artificial Curiosity, and early Generative Adversarial ideas. Co-chairs the Center of Excellence for Generative AI at KAUST. Known for vigorously claiming credit for foundational AI ideas and disputing attribution. Believes we are close to AGI and it will be the last major invention humanity needs to make.
Diplom, Computer Science — Technical University of Munich
PhD, Computer Science — Technical University of Munich
Operational History
Advocacy for AGI
Continues to advocate for the development of Artificial General Intelligence as a positive force for humanity.
policyNNAISENSE Co-founder
Co-founded NNAISENSE, a company focused on AI and deep learning technologies.
foundingCenter of Excellence for Generative AI
Co-chairs the Center of Excellence for Generative AI at KAUST.
careerDirector of AI Initiative at KAUST
Appointed as Director of the AI Initiative at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
careerCo-Director of IDSIA
Became Co-Director of the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research (IDSIA).
careerArtificial Curiosity
Introduced concepts of Artificial Curiosity in AI systems.
researchHighway Networks
Pioneered Highway Networks, which later influenced the development of ResNets.
researchCo-invention of LSTM
Developed Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, a breakthrough in recurrent neural networks.
researchAGI Position Assessment
Within the next 10-20 years.
Strongly optimistic about the development of AGI and its potential benefits.
- AGI will be the last major invention humanity needs.
- Existential risks from AI are overstated.
Focus on beneficial applications and responsible development.
Intercepted Communications
“I believe we are very close to achieving AGI, and it will be the last major invention humanity needs to make.”
“The concerns about existential risks from AI are overstated; we should focus on the benefits.”
“LSTM networks have revolutionized the way we approach sequence prediction.”
“Generative AI is the future, and we must harness its potential responsibly.”
“Highway Networks were a necessary step towards the development of deeper networks.”
Research Output
Towards AGI: The Road Ahead
2022AI Review
Outlined the future directions towards achieving AGI.
The Importance of Curiosity in AI
2021AI Journal
Discussed the role of curiosity in artificial intelligence.
Generative Adversarial Networks: A Review
2020arXiv
Reviewed the state of Generative Adversarial Networks.
Compressed Network Search
2019arXiv
Investigated methods for efficient neural network search.
Fast Weight Programmers
2018arXiv
Proposed a novel approach to neural network training.
Artificial Curiosity
2017arXiv
Explored the concept of Artificial Curiosity in AI.
Highway Networks
2015Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Machine Learning
Introduced Highway Networks, influencing deep learning architectures.
Long Short-Term Memory
1997Neural Computation
Foundational paper on LSTM networks.
Field Intelligence
Deep Learning Breakthroughs
Generative AI: Opportunities and Challenges
Artificial Curiosity in AI Systems
The Evolution of Neural Networks
Known Associates
Sepp Hochreiter
collaboratorCo-author of the LSTM paper and long-time research collaborator.
View Dossier →Yoshua Bengio
collaboratorCollaborated on Highway Networks research.
View Dossier →Geoffrey Hinton
rivalNoted rival in the field of deep learning and neural networks.
View Dossier →Demis Hassabis
colleagueCollaborated on various AI initiatives and research.
View Dossier →Organizational Affiliations
Current
NNAISENSE
Co-founder and Chief Scientist
2017-Present
KAUST
Director of AI Initiative
2019-Present
IDSIA
Scientific Director
2017-Present
Source Material
Dossier last updated: 2026-03-04