# Charles K. Fisher

> Charles K. Fisher is a biophysicist, Unlearn.AI co-founder and former CEO, writer, and venture partner at EPIC Ventures. Educated at the University of Michigan and Harvard, he worked in academic research, computational science at Pfizer, and machine learning at Leap Motion before co-founding Unlearn in 2017. His essays examine scientific creativity, generative models, research practice, and the personal costs of chasing status.

- **Role:** Venture Partner at EPIC Ventures
- **Organizations:** Unlearn.AI, EPIC Ventures, Leap Motion, Pfizer, Boston University, École Normale Supérieure
- **Education:** B.S. in Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ph.D. in Biophysics, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Unlearn.AI in 2017 and led the company as CEO until September 2024., Led Unlearn through a period in which it secured more than $130 million in funding, according to its September 2024 leadership announcement., Earned a Harvard Ph.D. in biophysics and held a Philippe Meyer Fellowship in theoretical physics in Paris.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Completed a B.S. in biophysics at the University of Michigan.
- **2012** — Completed a Ph.D. in biophysics at Harvard; describes being introduced to deep learning by his postdoctoral advisor in 2012.
- **—** — Held research appointments at Boston University and as a Philippe Meyer Fellow in theoretical physics at École Normale Supérieure in Paris.
- **—** — Worked as a computational scientist at Pfizer and a machine learning engineer at Leap Motion.
- **2017** — Co-founded Unlearn.AI with Aaron Smith and Jonathan Walsh.
- **2024** — Stepped down as CEO on September 11; the company announced his transition to Chief Scientist and Steve Herne’s appointment as CEO.
- **2025** — Listed as joining EPIC Ventures as a venture partner in March; the firm’s current team page confirms the role.
- **2026** — Announced plans to leave the San Francisco Bay Area in March and return to the greater Ann Arbor area in April.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Unlearn.AI in 2017 and led the company as CEO until September 2024.
- Led Unlearn through a period in which it secured more than $130 million in funding, according to its September 2024 leadership announcement.
- Earned a Harvard Ph.D. in biophysics and held a Philippe Meyer Fellowship in theoretical physics in Paris.
- Co-developed generative modeling work described in his founding account as Boltzmann Encoded Adversarial Machines.
- His personal website links to his book The Relentless Startup.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Publicly announced an April relocation from the San Francisco Bay Area to the greater Ann Arbor area; Crunchbase now lists Chelsea, Michigan.
- **2025-12** — Published The State of AI in 2026 on December 31, outlining opportunities in fundamental research, new datasets, and different product designs.
- **2025-03** — Joined EPIC Ventures as a venture partner, according to Crunchbase; the role is confirmed on EPIC’s current team page.
- **2024-09** — Unlearn announced that Steve Herne would succeed Fisher as CEO and Fisher would become Chief Scientist.

## Links

- Website: https://www.charleskfisher.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskfisher/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/charleskfisher

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/charles-fisher
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-16