PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Frank Pasquale

Frank Pasquale is a legal scholar whose work examines how AI and algorithms shape law and institutions. He earned degrees at Harvard, Oxford, and Yale, then clerked for a federal appeals judge and worked as an associate at Arnold & Porter. His 2015 book The Black Box Society examined reputation, search, and finance; New Laws of Robotics analyzed law and policy shaping AI adoption, and he co-edited books on data mining and AI ethics. He served on the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee from 2022 to 2024 and joined Cornell Law School in 2023. As of October 2026, he is Professor of Law at Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School, with recent work on data access, creator rights in AI training, and legal automation.

Timeline

  1. 1996–2001

    Harvard, Oxford, and Yale

    He earns a B.A. at Harvard in 1996, an M.Phil. at Oxford in 1998, and a J.D. at Yale Law School in 2001. After Yale, he clerks for Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the First Circuit Court of Appeals and works as an associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C.

  2. 2015

    The Black Box Society

    In 2015, he publishes The Black Box Society, a book that develops a social theory of reputation, search, and finance and proposes reforms to improve the information economy.

  3. 2017–2020

    Books on data and AI ethics

    He co-edits Transparent Data Mining for Big and Small Data in 2017 and The Oxford Handbook on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in 2020.

  4. 2020

    New Laws of Robotics

    In 2020, he publishes New Laws of Robotics: Defending Human Expertise in the Age of AI, which analyzes how law and policy influence AI adoption across fields.

  5. 2022–2024

    National AI Advisory Committee

    From 2022 to 2024, he serves on the U.S. National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee. The committee advises the President and the National AI Initiative Office on artificial intelligence issues.

  6. 2023

    Joining Cornell Law

    Before joining Cornell, he holds chaired professorships at the University of Maryland, Seton Hall University, and Brooklyn Law School. He joins Cornell Law School as its third full-time faculty member at Cornell Tech in July 2023.

  7. 2025–2026

    Data access and AI training

    In 2025, he publishes Data Access and AI Explainability, which examines U.S. and EU data access rights and AI explainability guarantees. He coauthors LearnRight, a 2025 proposal for creators to license works for AI training. In 2026, he writes about judging and limits on legal automation in courts.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Cornell

    As of October 2026, he is Professor of Law at Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School. He is an expert on the law of AI, algorithms, and machine learning.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Permanent Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Cornell Law School lawschool.cornell.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Frank Pasquale Joins Law School Faculty in New York City - Cornell Law School lawschool.cornell.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Frank Pasquale - Cornell Law School lawschool.cornell.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. U.S. Department of Commerce Appoints 27 Members to National AI Advisory Committee | NIST nist.gov. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Data Access and AI Explainability cambridge.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Who Should Get Paid When AI Learns From Creative Work? tech.cornell.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. Judging and Limits on Legal Automation (Chapter 4) - The Cambridge Handbook of AI and Technologies in Courts cambridge.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. AI data center moratorium bill: Cornell expert says concerns ‘legitimate’ | Cornell Chronicle news.cornell.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.