# Gary Marcus

> Gary Marcus is a cognitive scientist, author, and AI critic who has spent 25 years arguing that deep learning alone cannot produce genuine intelligence. A NYU professor emeritus, founder of Geometric Intelligence (acquired by Uber), and co-founder of Robust.AI with Rodney Brooks, he runs the Substack newsletter 'Marcus on AI' with over 103,000 subscribers. His books 'Rebooting AI' and 'Taming Silicon Valley' are essential texts for understanding what current AI systems can and cannot do. He testified before the U.S. Senate alongside Sam Altman in May 2023, calling for strict AI regulation.

- **Role:** CEO at Robust.AI; Professor Emeritus at NYU
- **Organizations:** Robust.AI, NYU, Geometric Intelligence (acquired by Uber)
- **From:** Baltimore, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Cognitive Science, Hampshire College, Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** PhD from MIT at age 23 under Steven Pinker, Founded Geometric Intelligence, acquired by Uber in December 2016, Co-founded Robust.AI with Rodney Brooks (iRobot co-inventor)

## Career timeline

- **1970** — Born February 8 in Baltimore, Maryland
- **1986** — Skipped last two years of high school; enrolled at Hampshire College
- **1989** — Graduated Hampshire College in 3 years with B.S. in Cognitive Science
- **1993** — Received PhD from MIT at age 23 under Steven Pinker
- **1993** — Joined NYU as Professor of Psychology and Neural Science
- **2001** — Published 'The Algebraic Mind' (MIT Press)
- **2004** — Published 'The Birth of the Mind'
- **2008** — Published 'Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind' (NYT Editor's Choice)
- **2012** — Published 'Guitar Zero' (New York Times Bestseller)
- **2014** — Co-founded Geometric Intelligence, a machine learning startup
- **2016** — Geometric Intelligence acquired by Uber; Marcus served briefly as Director of AI
- **2016** — Became Professor Emeritus at NYU
- **2018** — Published 'Deep Learning: A Critical Appraisal' on arXiv, sparking major debate
- **2019** — Co-founded Robust.AI with Rodney Brooks (iRobot/Roomba co-inventor)
- **2019** — Published 'Rebooting AI' with Ernest Davis
- **2023** — Testified before U.S. Senate alongside Sam Altman on AI regulation (May 16)
- **2024** — Published 'Taming Silicon Valley' (MIT Press); featured in The New Yorker
- **2025** — Delivered keynote at Royal Society, London on LLM limitations
- **2026** — Declared Claude Code 'the single biggest advance in AI since the LLM'

## Achievements

- PhD from MIT at age 23 under Steven Pinker
- Founded Geometric Intelligence, acquired by Uber in December 2016
- Co-founded Robust.AI with Rodney Brooks (iRobot co-inventor)
- Testified before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on AI regulation alongside Sam Altman (May 2023)
- Substack newsletter 'Marcus on AI' with 103,000+ subscribers
- New York Times Bestseller: 'Guitar Zero'
- NYT Editor's Choice: 'Kluge'
- Forbes '7 Must Read Books in AI' for 'Rebooting AI'
- Robert L. Fantz Award for New Investigators in Cognitive Development (1996)
- Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford (2002)
- TED speaker; ITU AI for Good speaker

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Wrote widely-shared piece declaring Claude Code 'the single biggest advance in AI since the LLM', framing it as vindication for neurosymbolic AI
- **2026-01** — Published 'Six Predictions for AI in 2026' including no AGI, peak AI bubble, and neurosymbolic research escalation
- **2025-10** — Delivered keynote at Royal Society London on LLM limitations, calling them 'deeply flawed imitators'
- **2025-06** — Held public conversation with Ben Goertzel at World AI Summit 2025
- **2024-09** — Published 'Taming Silicon Valley' (MIT Press), featured on The New Yorker's recommended books list

## Links

- Website: http://www.garymarcus.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-marcus-b6384b4/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/GaryMarcus

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/gary-marcus
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-27