Girish Gupta

I'm an AI researcher working to understand how artificial intelligence models work, and how to keep them under control. This is essential for AI safety — making it one of the most important scientific challenges of our time.

My work draws on an unusual career path: theoretical physics (my academic foundation), investigative journalism (a decade reporting on global crises), and Silicon Valley engineering (building AI systems across multiple industries).

As an engineer and tech leader, I built AI infrastructure and software across news, public policy, human rights investigations, accounting, and healthcare — as well as software to bring simple, live economic data to people suffering hyperinflation. I've seen firsthand how shortcuts and misunderstandings can lead to serious real-world consequences.

Before entering tech, I reported on global crises — primarily Venezuela, where I lived for nearly a decade, as well as Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Lebanon, Jordan, Guyana, Brazil, and Egypt — for the New Yorker, New York Times, Reuters, Time, the BBC, NPR, and many others. This led me to write Always Go, a celebration and critique of a news industry shaped — often similarly to AI — by reward hacking and misaligned incentives.

In my spare time, I enjoy photography, learning history, and playing the piano. I live in San Francisco with my wife and children.