PeopleofSuperintelligence

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Ben Garfinkel

As of October 2026, Ben Garfinkel is executive director of the Centre for the Governance of AI (GovAI), a research community. He earned a Yale degree in physics and in mathematics and philosophy, and he studied for a DPhil in International Relations at Oxford. With Allan Dafoe, he published work on the offense-defense balance in 2019, including a December 2019 essay on whether AI would be more useful for offense or defense in military operations. When GovAI relaunched as a nonprofit in 2021, he was its acting director.

Works
25
Citations
1,173
h-index
9

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2019

    Yale degree, then Oxford DPhil

    He earns a Yale degree in physics and in mathematics and philosophy, and in 2019 he is a DPhil scholar in International Relations at Oxford.

  2. 2019

    Research fellow at Oxford

    After working as a research consultant for OpenAI, he is a research fellow at the University of Oxford in 2019.

  3. 2019

    A paper on offense-defense scaling

    Writing with Allan Dafoe in 2019, he publishes 'How does the offense-defense balance scale?' in the Journal of Strategic Studies.

  4. December 2019

    Essay on AI and offense-defense

    Together with Allan Dafoe, he publishes an essay in December 2019 on whether AI will be more useful for offense or defense in military operations.

  5. 2021

    GovAI relaunches as a nonprofit

    In 2021 GovAI relaunches as a nonprofit research community based in Oxford, with Ben Garfinkel as its acting director. He is also head of the AI Governance Team at the Future of Humanity Institute.

  6. 2023

    Acting director of the Centre

    Still acting director in 2023, he heads the Centre for the Governance of AI, an organization focused on the risks and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence.

  7. As of October 2026

    Executive director of GovAI

    As of October 2026, he is executive director of GovAI and is responsible for setting the direction of the organization and making key decisions.

Sources and credits

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  1. An Interview with Ben Garfinkel, Governance of AI Program Researcher - The Politic thepolitic.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Artificial Intelligence, Foresight, and the Offense-Defense Balance warontherocks.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. How does the offense-defense balance scale? · Pablo Stafforini stafforini.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. GovAI has Relaunched | GovAI Blog governance.ai. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Ben Garfinkel | CNAS cnas.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Ben Garfinkel | GovAI governance.ai. Checked 15 October 2026.