Ray Solomonoff
Also known as Raymond J. Solomonoff
Ray Solomonoff was a researcher in inductive inference who attended the 1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence. He invented algorithmic probability in 1960, a theorem that launched Kolmogorov complexity and algorithmic information theory. "A Formal Theory of Inductive Inference" appeared in Information and Control in 1964. In 1985 he analyzed a likely evolution of AI and gave a formula for when it would reach the Infinity Point. He received the first Kolmogorov Award in 2003 and died in 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- Works
- 39
- Citations
- 4,635
- h-index
- 19
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
-
1926–1951
Physics studies in Chicago
He is born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1926 and earns an M.S. in physics at the University of Chicago in 1951.
-
1956
The Dartmouth Summer Research Project
He attends the 1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence as one of its original invitees, an event often considered the launch of AI as a research discipline.
-
1960
Algorithmic probability
In 1960 he invents algorithmic probability, a theorem that launches Kolmogorov complexity and algorithmic information theory.
-
1964
A formal theory of inductive inference
He publishes "A Formal Theory of Inductive Inference" in Information and Control in 1964.
-
1970
Oxbridge Research, a one-man company
Oxbridge Research starts in 1970 as his own one-man company in Cambridge, and he continues his research there.
-
1985
A formula for the Infinity Point
In 1985 he analyzes a likely evolution of AI, giving a formula for when it would reach the Infinity Point.
-
2003
The first Kolmogorov Award
He becomes the first recipient of the Kolmogorov Award in 2003, given by the Computer Learning Research Center at Royal Holloway.
-
2009
Death in Cambridge, Massachusetts
He dies in 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of complications of a stroke.
Sources and credits
Photo: We have no published photo of Ray Solomonoff yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.