PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Brian Tomasik

Brian Tomasik is a computer-science researcher whose writing brings questions about suffering into AI ethics. He studied machine learning at Swarthmore and worked on Bing search relevance at Microsoft from 2009 to 2013. He helped start the Foundational Research Institute in 2013, wrote about future AI risk and the moral status of reinforcement-learning agents, and briefly did machine-learning work at FlyHomes in 2015. As of October 2026, he is an advisor to the Center on Long-Term Risk.

Now at
Center on Long-Term Risk
Works
12
Citations
300
h-index
7
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2005–2009

    Choosing computer science at Swarthmore

    Around 2005, he starts thinking about making money to donate. In fall 2007, he switches his Swarthmore major to computer science while studying machine learning, then graduates in 2009 with a computer science major and a statistics minor.

  2. 2009–2013

    Bing search relevance

    At Microsoft, he works as a software engineer from 2009 to 2013, improving the relevance of Bing's search results.

  3. 2013

    Starting the Foundational Research Institute

    In 2013, he helps start the Foundational Research Institute, now called the Center on Long-Term Risk, and writes essays and scholarly articles through the organization.

  4. May 2014

    AI and future suffering

    In May 2014, he publishes Artificial Intelligence and Its Implications for Future Suffering and argues that AI ethics and policy deserve attention from people focused on reducing suffering.

  5. October 2014

    The moral status of AI agents

    In October 2014, he argues that present-day artificial reinforcement-learning agents may have a very small but nonzero degree of ethical importance.

  6. 2015

    Machine learning at FlyHomes

    In 2015, he briefly does machine-learning work with the real-estate startup FlyHomes.

  7. As of October 2026

    Center on Long-Term Risk advisor

    As of October 2026, he is an advisor to the Center on Long-Term Risk, where advisors review and contribute to the organization's research and activities.

Career

  1. Since 2013Center on Long-Term RiskCo-founder, Advisor
  2. 2015Flyhomes, Inc.
  3. 2009–2013MicrosoftSoftware engineer

Education

  1. 2009Swarthmore CollegeComputer science major; statistics minor

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Framework for integrating animal welfare into life cycle sustainability assessment2017 · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · 106 citations
  2. The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering2015 · Relations Beyond Anthropocentrism · 97 citations
  3. Using Artist Similarity To Propagate Semantic Information2009 · 33 citations
  4. Measures of International Transport Cost for OECD Countries2008 · OECD Economics Department working papers · 19 citations
  5. Tagging products using image classification2009 · International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR) · 19 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes Microsoft. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Microsoft. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  3. Google alumni founded or led 81 other organizations, the most among the labs we compareIncludes Microsoft. We trace 194 organizations founded or led by AI lab alumni, and 202 career moves between the labs.
  4. 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 from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Interview with Brian Tomasik 80000hours.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Artificial Intelligence and Its Implications for Future Suffering longtermrisk.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Brian Tomasik briantomasik.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Résumé briantomasik.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Do Artificial Reinforcement-Learning Agents Matter Morally? arxiv.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. Team — Center on Long-Term Risk longtermrisk.org. Checked 18 October 2026.