# David Luan

> David Luan is an AI entrepreneur who co-founded Adept, the company behind the ACT-1 computer-using model. He previously led engineering at OpenAI and large-model work at Google, then headed Amazon’s San Francisco AGI lab and its Nova Act effort before leaving in February 2026.

- **Role:** Former Vice President of Autonomy and head of AGI SF Lab, Amazon
- **Organizations:** Dextro, Axon, OpenAI, Google Brain, Adept AI, Amazon
- **Education:** Certificate in computer science, Worcester State University, BS/BA in applied mathematics and political science, Yale University
- **Known for:** Built Dextro, acquired by Axon in 2017., Helped grow OpenAI’s engineering and research organization from roughly 30 to roughly 120 people, according to his personal site., Co-founded Adept and launched ACT-1, a model demonstrated using browser interfaces.

## Career timeline

- **2011** — Founded Dextro, a video classification company.
- **2017** — Dextro was acquired by Axon; Luan served as director of AI and says he established its AI ethics board.
- **2017-2020** — Led engineering at OpenAI.
- **2020-2021** — Led large-model work at Google Brain.
- **2022** — Co-founded Adept and introduced its ACT-1 action model.
- **2023** — Adept announced a $350 million Series B.
- **2024** — Joined Amazon with other Adept leaders after Amazon licensed Adept technology.
- **2025** — Led Amazon’s San Francisco AGI lab as it released Nova Act.
- **2026** — Announced his departure from Amazon in February to pursue an undisclosed new direction.

## Achievements

- Built Dextro, acquired by Axon in 2017.
- Helped grow OpenAI’s engineering and research organization from roughly 30 to roughly 120 people, according to his personal site.
- Co-founded Adept and launched ACT-1, a model demonstrated using browser interfaces.
- Led Amazon’s AGI SF Lab and its Nova Act agent effort.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Announced he would leave Amazon at the end of the week to pursue a new idea.
- **2025-12** — Amazon Nova Act became generally available as an AWS service, according to GeekWire.
- **2025-03** — Amazon unveiled Nova Act, a browser-agent model and developer toolkit.

## Links

- Website: https://www.davidluan.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jluan
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/jluan
- GitHub: https://github.com/jluan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-luan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-29