Helen Toner
Also known as CSET, AI policy
Helen Toner is the executive director of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. She studies advanced AI and the choices governments and institutions face as capabilities change. Before joining CSET, she worked at Open Philanthropy and studied AI governance in Beijing as an Oxford research affiliate. She helped build CSET from its founding in 2019 and later led strategy and foundational research grants. Toner joined OpenAI’s board in 2021 and left in 2023. Her reports include work on governing frontier AI, preparing for AI agents and understanding the automation of AI research. She became CSET’s interim director in September 2025. She is CSET’s executive director.
- Now at
- Georgetown University
Timeline
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Before CSET
Developing an AI policy career
Toner worked at Open Philanthropy and researched AI governance in Beijing as an Oxford research affiliate. Her education includes chemical engineering at the University of Melbourne and security studies at Georgetown. This background connected technical training with the institutions and decisions involved in managing emerging technology.
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2019
Helping build CSET
Toner helped build CSET from its founding in 2019. At Georgetown, the center produces research on technology and security for decision-makers. She later directed strategy and foundational research grants, with work focused on advanced AI and the problems that changing capabilities create for governance.
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October–November 2023
Examining frontier AI governance
Toner co-authored Skating to Where the Puck Is Going in October 2023. The report examined how policymakers could anticipate and manage risks from advanced AI. It set out a policy problem that requires attention to changing capabilities and the limits of evidence about future systems. Her OpenAI board service ended in November, when the company announced a new initial board.
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September 2025
Taking charge of CSET
CSET announced that Toner would become interim director on 2 September 2025. The appointment followed years of work within the center. She is CSET’s executive director, extending her research and strategy work into leadership of the institution.
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January 2026
Studying AI that helps build AI
Toner co-authored When AI Builds AI, a report from an expert workshop on automating AI research and development. It recorded areas of agreement and disagreement about possible trajectories. The authors called for better evidence and greater visibility into how companies use AI to develop new systems.
Sources and credits
Photo: Georgetown CSET; photographer not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: cset.georgetown.edu. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.