François Chollet
François Chollet is the creator of Keras and a co-founder of Ndea and ARC Prize. His early software work included Wysp and QuickAnswers before the first Keras release in March 2015. Keras offered components for building neural networks, with accessibility as a stated goal. Chollet also published the Xception architecture and wrote Deep Learning with Python. In 2019, his Measure of Intelligence paper introduced ARC and asked how to evaluate a system’s ability to learn new skills. He and Mike Knoop later launched ARC Prize for open research on those tasks. Chollet left Google in November 2024 and continued contributing to Keras. At Ndea, he and Knoop pursue a combination of deep learning and program synthesis.
- Now at
- Ndea and ARC Prize
Timeline
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2011–2015
Early software
Chollet works on Wysp and QuickAnswers before Keras.
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2015–2017
Keras, research, and teaching
He releases Keras, publishes Xception, and writes Deep Learning with Python.
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2019
ARC
The Measure of Intelligence introduces ARC and a proposed view of skill acquisition.
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2024
ARC Prize
Chollet and Mike Knoop launch a research competition for open solutions.
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November 2024
Continuing Keras outside Google
Chollet leaves Google and states that Keras contributions will continue.
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Current work
Ndea and ARC Prize
Chollet and Knoop develop Ndea; Chollet is an ARC Prize co-founder and board member.
Sources and credits
Photo: Ramosset, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
- Chollet: personal project and book history
- Chollet: Introducing Keras 1.0, 11 April 2016
- Chollet: Xception, 2016–2017
- Chollet: On the Measure of Intelligence, 2019
- Knoop: ARC Prize launch, 11 June 2024
- Google: Chollet farewell, 13 November 2024
- Ndea: founders
- Ndea: research approach
- ARC Prize Foundation: current team