Peter Lee
Peter Lee is a computer scientist who spent more than 16 years at Microsoft, where his work centers on AI for medicine and science. He completed a PhD thesis at the University of Michigan and became a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in 1987. In 2010 he moved from DARPA to Microsoft Research's Redmond lab. With Sébastien Bubeck and Joseph Petro, he wrote a 2023 New England Journal of Medicine article on GPT-4 as a medical chatbot. As of October 2026, he is president of Microsoft Science, and he has announced his retirement from the company.
Timeline
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1987
A compiler thesis, then Carnegie Mellon
He completes a PhD thesis on compiler generation at the University of Michigan. From 1987 he is a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
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2010
Moving from DARPA to Redmond
He leaves DARPA, where he heads the Transformational Convergence Technology Office, to join Microsoft Research as managing director of its Redmond lab in 2010.
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2015–2020
Running NExT and Microsoft Healthcare
From 2015 to 2020 he heads Microsoft Research NExT and Microsoft Healthcare.
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2023
GPT-4 as a medical chatbot
In March 2023 he co-writes a New England Journal of Medicine article on GPT-4 as a medical chatbot, with Sébastien Bubeck and Joseph Petro. He also coauthors the book The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 and Beyond with Carey Goldberg and Isaac Kohane.
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2024
A place on Time's health list
In 2024 Time names him one of the 100 most influential people in health and life sciences.
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February 2026
President of Microsoft Science
He becomes president of Microsoft Science in February 2026, a role focused on AI-enabled discovery in the physical, biological and medical sciences.
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October 2026
A planned Mercedes F1 advisory role
He announces his retirement from Microsoft after more than 16 years, and he plans to join the Mercedes Formula 1 team in a newly created AI advisor role.
Sources and credits
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- Peter Lee (computer scientist) - Wikipedia
- Peter Lee at Microsoft Research
- Microsoft Taps Peter Lee as New Managing Director of Microsoft Research Redmond
- Ex-CRA Chair Peter Lee to Leave DARPA for Microsoft Research
- Benefits, Limits, and Risks of GPT-4 as an AI Chatbot for Medicine - Microsoft Research
- Microsoft Science president Peter Lee to retire after 16 years | ETIH
- Exclusive: Microsoft’s departing science president plans to join Mercedes F1 team as AI advisor