Emmett Shear

Emmett Shear is an AI lab leader whose Softmax essays explore alignment and machine learning. He coauthored a paper on vote manipulation, co-founded Kiko with Justin Kan, and helped build Justin.tv into Twitch. At Twitch, he led the platform through Amazon's 2014 acquisition and resigned as CEO in March 2023; in November 2023, he briefly served as OpenAI's interim CEO. As of October 2026, he is CEO and founder of Softmax.

Born: 1983
Links: X, LinkedIn and GitHub

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

2004–2005

A vote-manipulation paper

He coauthors the 2004 paper “Small vote manipulations can swing elections” with Anthony Di Franco, Andrew Petro and Vladimir Vladimirov in Communications of the ACM. He graduates from Yale in 2005 with a degree in computer science.
2005

Co-founding Kiko

He co-founds Kiko with Justin Kan in 2005.
2006–2011

From Justin.tv to Twitch

In October 2006, he and Justin Kan co-found Justin.tv, a live-video service. Its gaming spin-off, Twitch, launches in June 2011. He joins Y Combinator as a part-time partner in June 2011 and advises startups.
2014–2023

Twitch CEO and Amazon acquisition

In August 2014, he is Twitch's CEO as Amazon agrees to acquire the gaming platform for about $970 million. He resigns as CEO in March 2023 after more than 16 years at Twitch and stays on as an adviser.
November 2023

Interim CEO at OpenAI

In November 2023, he briefly serves as OpenAI's interim CEO.
December 2024

CEO of Stem AI

In December 2024, he is listed as CEO of Stem AI, a stealth startup.
April 2025

Rheomode and The Frame-Dependent Mind

In April 2025, he coauthors “Rheomode,” an essay on how language frames neural-network learning and AI alignment. With Sonnet 3.7, he also coauthors “The Frame-Dependent Mind,” which examines how frames shape what AI agents learn and see.
As of October 2026

Softmax CEO and founder

As of October 2026, he is CEO and founder of Softmax.