PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Gérard Biau

Gérard Biau studies the mathematical foundations of machine learning through work on random forests and neural networks. After studying at École des Mines de Paris and passing the mathematics agrégation, he earns a doctorate at Montpellier in 2000. He helps create SCAI, Sorbonne University’s AI institute, and receives the Michel Monpetit–Inria Prize in 2018. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 2024 and directs SCAI as of October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2000

    A doctorate in Montpellier

    He studies at École des Mines de Paris, passes the mathematics agrégation, and earns a doctorate at the University of Montpellier in 2000.

  2. 2001–2007

    Academic posts at Sorbonne and Montpellier

    He works as a lecturer at Sorbonne University from 2001 to 2004. After his habilitation, he becomes a professor at the University of Montpellier. In 2007, he joins Sorbonne’s Probability, Statistics and Modelling Laboratory (LPSM).

  3. 2012–2016

    Random forests into neural networks

    In 2012, his paper “Analysis of a Random Forests Model” proves consistency and shows that its convergence rate adapts to sparsity. In 2016, with Erwan Scornet and Johannes Welbl, he recasts random forests as neural networks and proposes two hybrid models called neural random forests.

  4. 2018

    The Michel Monpetit–Inria Prize

    He is a junior member of the Institut universitaire de France from 2012 to 2017 and serves as president of the French Statistical Society from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, he receives the Academy of Sciences’ Michel Monpetit–Inria Prize.

  5. 2019

    Founding Sorbonne’s AI institute

    He leads a Sorbonne University working group on AI in 2018, and its initiative launches SCAI, the university’s AI institute, in June 2019.

  6. 2024–2025

    Election to the Academy

    The Academy of Sciences elects him in December 2024 and inducts him in June 2025. In 2024, he also becomes a senior member of the Institut universitaire de France.

  7. 2025

    Building PostGenAI@Paris

    At the April 2025 launch of PostGenAI@Paris, he describes its challenge as bringing together 16 academic and institutional partners and more than 60 industrial partners.

  8. As of October 2026

    Director of SCAI

    In 2026, he directs SCAI, Sorbonne University’s AI center.

  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 Gérard Biau yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Gérard Biau, professeur à Sorbonne Université, directeur du Sorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), élu à l’Académie des sciences sorbonne-universite.fr. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Analysis of a Random Forests Model jmlr.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Neural Random Forests arxiv.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Cérémonie de réception des nouveaux membres élus en 2024 academie-sciences.fr. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Lancement de PostGenAI@Paris : l’IA au cœur d’une ambition scientifique et sociétale sorbonne-universite.fr. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Numérique, intelligence artificielle et développement durable en santé fc.sorbonne-universite.fr. Checked 19 October 2026.