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September 8, 2021

Helen Toner joins OpenAI’s board of directors

Today, we’re excited to announce the appointment of Helen Toner to our board of directors.

Helen Toner Joins

Illustration: Justin Jay Wang × DALL·E

Today, we’re excited to announce the appointment of Helen Toner to our board of directors. As the Director of Strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), Helen has deep expertise in AI policy and global AI strategy research. This appointment advances our dedication to the safe and responsible deployment of technology as a part of our mission to ensure general-purpose AI benefits all of humanity.

"I greatly value Helen’s deep thinking around the long-term risks and effects of AI,” added Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s chairman and Chief Technology Officer. “I’m looking forward to the impact she will have on our progress towards achieving our mission.”

"Helen brings an understanding of the global AI landscape with an emphasis on safety, which is critical for our efforts and mission,” said Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO. “We are delighted to add her leadership to our board.”

"OpenAI is a unique organization in the AI research space, and has produced some of the advances, publications, and products I’m most excited about,” said Helen Toner. “I strongly believe in the organization’s aim of building AI for the benefit of all, and am honored to have this opportunity to contribute to that mission.”

“I strongly believe in the organization’s aim of building AI for the benefit of all, and am honored to have this opportunity to contribute to that mission.”
Helen Toner

Helen currently oversees CSET’s data-driven AI policy research, which provides nonpartisan analysis to the policy community. She previously advised policymakers and grantmakers on AI strategy while at Open Philanthropy. Helen also studied the AI landscape in China and is a trusted voice on national security implications for AI and ML between China and the United States. In a recent paper(opens in a new window) Helen co-authored for CSET, she stressed the importance of finding new methods to test AI models, and advocated for information sharing on AI accidents and collaboration across borders to minimize risk.