PeopleofSuperintelligence

Public voice

Mutale Nkonde

Mutale Nkonde is a Zambian-born journalist and AI policy researcher who advocates for rules that reduce algorithmic bias. Raised in the United Kingdom, she studied sociology at Leeds Metropolitan University and American studies at Columbia University, worked as a broadcast journalist at the BBC, CNN and ABC, and turned to the subject after Weapons of Math Destruction appeared in 2016. In 2019 she became lead advocate for the Algorithmic Accountability Act, in 2020 she started the organization AI for the People, and in 2021 she won a New York Emmy Award for a news segment on facial recognition. She testified to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2022, joined the Oxford Internet Institute as a visiting policy fellow in October 2023, and helped the Congressional Black Caucus develop its AI policy platform in 2024. She is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit AI for the People and a Ph.D. candidate in digital humanities at the University of Cambridge.

Now at
AI for the People
Works
3
Citations
23
h-index
2
Badges
Links
Website and LinkedIn

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2015–2016

    Turning to algorithmic bias

    Born in Zambia, raised in the United Kingdom and a graduate in sociology from Leeds Metropolitan University, she grows curious about social media algorithms in 2015, when a friend posts that Google Pictures labeled two Black people as gorillas. The 2016 publication of Weapons of Math Destruction leads her to research algorithmic bias.

  2. 2019

    Algorithmic Accountability Act advocacy

    In 2019, she co-authors the report Advancing Racial Literacy in Tech and becomes a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. She also becomes the lead advocate for the Algorithmic Accountability Act, first introduced in the US House of Representatives in 2019, while a fellow at Data & Society. The bill builds impact assessments into engineering workflows so regulators can see the effect of AI systems before market release.

  3. 2020

    Founding AI for the People

    In March 2020, she starts AI for the People, a public-sector responsible AI team focused on product policy, building on policy advocacy in Congress since 2017. As a 2020 practitioner fellow at Stanford's Digital Civil Society Lab, she runs the Black Disinformation Resistors project, which uses hip-hop culture to teach Black audiences how AI systems mediate their access to political information. In 2020, she also joins TikTok's Content Moderation Advisory Council.

  4. 2021

    A New York Emmy Award

    A broadcast journalist who started at the BBC, CNN and ABC, she wins a New York Emmy Award in 2021 for a news segment on facial recognition.

  5. 2022

    Testifying to Congress

    In 2022, she testifies to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in support of the Algorithmic Accountability Act. She also starts building partnerships across the HBCU system to diversify the field of AI ethics.

  6. October 2023

    Oxford Internet Institute fellowship

    In October 2023, she becomes a Visiting Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. In 2023, she takes part in one of Senator Schumer's AI Insight Panels.

  7. 2024

    Black Caucus AI platform

    In 2024, she supports the development of the AI policy platform of the Congressional Black Caucus. She also takes part in a series of White House roundtables on AI in 2024.

  8. As of October 2026

    Leading AI for the People

    In 2025, AI for the People becomes a shareholder activist, using proxy votes to encourage the world's largest AI developers to adopt responsible approaches, and one early vote asks Microsoft to research misinformation in its generative AI models. As of October 2026, she is Founder and CEO of AI for the People, a global nonprofit, and a Ph.D. candidate in digital humanities at the University of Cambridge as a Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholar, where her research looks at far-right narratives that migrate from white to Black communities. She holds an M.A. in American studies from Columbia University.

Career

  1. Since 2020AI for the PeopleFounder and CEO
  2. From 2023University of OxfordVisiting Policy Fellow
  3. From 2020Stanford UniversityPractitioner Fellow
  4. From 2020ByteDanceMember
  5. British Broadcasting CorporationBroadcast journalist
  6. Cable News NetworkBroadcast journalist
  7. American Broadcasting CompanyBroadcast journalist

Education

  1. Leeds Metropolitan UniversityDegree in sociology
  2. Columbia UniversityM.A. in American studies
  3. University of CambridgePhD candidate in digital humanities

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weapon-ization of breaking news2021 · Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review · 12 citations
  2. Advancing Racial Literacy in Tech2019 · 10 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes Mutale Nkonde. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  2. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes Stanford University. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Stanford University. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Stanford University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Mutale Nkonde - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Women in AI: Mutale Nkonde's nonprofit is working to make AI less biased | TechCrunch techcrunch.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Mutale Nkonde — Center for Critical Race + Digital Studies criticalracedigitalstudies.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Mutale Nkonde: Salzburg Global salzburgglobal.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Mutale Nkonde | Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity ccsre.stanford.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. OII | Mutale Nkonde oii.ox.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Speaker Details: Age of Intelligence - Mutale Nkonde events.fastcompany.com. Checked 20 October 2026.