PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ari Lazier

Also known as Ariel Joel Lazier

Ari Lazier was a computer scientist who co-authored RankNet, a neural-network method for learning to rank, and worked on interactive music systems. He studied computer science at Princeton, was a member of the University Wind Ensemble, and co-authored MoSievius and The Electronic Sitar Controller. At Microsoft, he co-authored the 2005 RankNet report; after graduation, he worked at software startups and helped invent music apps including Smule, Magic Piano, and I Am T-Pain. Smule filed a 2011 vocal-mixing patent application naming him as a co-inventor; it was granted in 2015, and ICML gave the RankNet paper its Test of Time Award in 2015. He died in San Francisco in September 2025 at age 44.

Timeline

  1. By 2003

    Computer science at Princeton

    Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he attends the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and becomes valedictorian of Ocean Lakes High School. At Princeton, he majors in computer science, is a member of the University Wind Ensemble, and graduates with the class of 2003.

  2. 2003

    The MoSievius mosaicing system

    In 2003, he and Perry Cook present MoSievius at DAFx-2003 in London as a framework for rapid implementation of interactive audio mosaicing. Its Sound Sieve isolates sound segments with specific qualities and gives users real-time control of source selection.

  3. 2004

    The Electronic Sitar Controller

    In 2004, he co-authors The Electronic Sitar Controller with Ajay Kapur, Phil Davidson, R. Scott Wilson, and Perry Cook. The project uses microcontroller technology to create a real-time instrument that models the sitar and appears in the conference proceedings in Hamamatsu, Japan.

  4. 2005

    RankNet at Microsoft

    In August 2005, he co-authors the report “Learning to Rank using Gradient Descent” with Chris Burges, Tal Shaked, Erin Renshaw, Matt Deeds, Nicole Hamilton, and Greg Hullender. The report introduces RankNet, a neural network that models the ranking function, and presents tests on toy data and a commercial internet search engine.

  5. 2011–2015

    A Smule vocal-mixing patent

    In 2011, Smule files the application for US 8,983,829, naming Perry R. Cook, Ari Lazier, Tom Lieber, and Turner E. Kirk as inventors. The patent is granted in 2015 and covers coordinating and mixing vocals captured from geographically distributed performers.

  6. 2015

    An ICML Test of Time Award

    In 2015, ICML gives its Test of Time Award to “Learning to Rank Using Gradient Descent,” the 2005 paper he co-authors with six other researchers.

  7. By 2025

    Music apps at software startups

    By 2025, his career includes work at Microsoft and several software startups, where he helps invent some of the first apps used to create and share music, including Smule, Magic Piano, and I Am T-Pain.

  8. September 2025

    Death in San Francisco

    In September 2025, he dies in San Francisco, where he lives, at age 44. He is a woodworker, mechanic, musician, and sculptor who enjoys surfing, skiing, hiking, and climbing with friends around the world.

  1. Among employers with 30+ full-time cases, OpenAI leads primary technical role H-1B pay at $310,000, and Amazon, Google and Microsoft file 57% of all casesIncludes Microsoft. Across 440,669 certified US H-1B filings from 44 employers (FY2020–FY2026), OpenAI leads primary technical role base pay at $310,000 and xAI leads overall base pay at $290,000.
  2. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Microsoft. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Microsoft. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Microsoft. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Ari Lazier yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Ariel J. Lazier ’03 | Princeton Alumni Weekly paw.princeton.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Ariel Joel Lazier | Jewish News jewishnewsva.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. DAFx Paper Archive - MOSIEVIUS: Feature driven interactive audio mosaicing dafx.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. MoSievius soundlab.cs.princeton.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. The Electronic Sitar Controller | Princeton SoundLab soundlab.cs.princeton.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Learning to Rank using Gradient Descent - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. US8983829B2 - Coordinating and mixing vocals captured from geographically distributed performers - Google Patents patents.google.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. Awards | ICML Lille icml.cc. Checked 22 October 2026.