PeopleofSuperintelligence

Public voice

Elizabeth Kelly

Elizabeth Kelly is a U.S. policy official who helped shape President Biden’s AI executive order and became the inaugural director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute at NIST. Under her leadership, the institute agreed with Anthropic and OpenAI on model access for safety testing, and she led a U.S.-European dialogue on AI risks. In February 2026, Kelly led Anthropic’s Beneficial Deployments team as it worked with Rwanda on AI in health, education and public services.

Now at
Anthropic
Photo of Elizabeth Kelly

Timeline

  1. Before February 2024

    A path through policy and finance

    She earned a J.D. from Yale Law School, an MSc in Comparative Social Policy from Oxford, and a B.A. from Duke. Her career included the Obama White House, the Biden-Harris transition, and leadership roles at Capital One and United Income. At the White House National Economic Council, she served as special assistant for economic policy and helped draft President Biden’s AI executive order.

  2. February 2024

    Starting a safety institute

    Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo named Kelly the inaugural director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute at NIST. The institute’s mandate included guidelines, model evaluations, and fundamental research on AI safety.

  3. July 2024

    Working across the Atlantic

    Alongside European AI Office director Lucilla Sioli, Kelly led a technical discussion on best practices and key AI risks. The discussion covered watermarking synthetic content, government compute infrastructure, and AI for societal good.

  4. August 2024

    Opening models to testing

    The U.S. AI Safety Institute signed agreements with Anthropic and OpenAI for AI safety research, testing, and evaluation. These agreements gave the institute access to major new models before and after their public release.

  5. September 2024

    A place on TIME100 AI

    TIME included Kelly on its 2024 list of the 100 most influential people in AI. The recognition cited her work leading the institute and helping shape the Biden administration’s technology policy, including the AI executive order.

  6. February 2026

    Extending AI through Rwanda

    Anthropic’s Beneficial Deployments team worked with Rwanda’s government on a three-year agreement to bring AI to health, education, and public services. As team head, Kelly said the work included training, technical support, and capacity building for teachers, health workers, and public servants.

Sources and credits

Photo: nist.gov; Elizabeth Kelly headshot; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: nist.gov. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Elizabeth Kelly - Atlantic Council atlanticcouncil.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. TIME Recognizes Elizabeth Kelly as one of the 100 most influential people in AI nist.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Announces Key Executive Leadership at U.S. AI Safety Institute nist.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. U.S. AI Safety Institute and European AI Office Hold Technical Dialogue nist.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. U.S. AI Safety Institute Signs Agreements Regarding AI Safety Research, Testing and Evaluation With Anthropic and OpenAI nist.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Community — The Athens Roundtable on AI and the Rule of Law aiathens.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Anthropic and the Government of Rwanda sign MOU for AI in health and education anthropic.com. Checked 14 October 2026.