# D. Scott Phoenix

> D. Scott Phoenix is a deep tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist who co-founded Vicarious, an artificial general intelligence company that raised $250M from Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and other tech luminaries before being acquired by Alphabet in 2022. Now a partner at Fifty Years, he invests in scientists and engineers solving humanity's biggest problems. A Y Combinator alum who founded his first startup at 16, Phoenix is a leading voice in AI safety advocacy and believes artificial general intelligence will be 'humanity's last invention.'

- **Role:** Partner at Fifty Years
- **Organizations:** Fifty Years, Vicarious (former), Intrinsic (former), Founders Fund (former), Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science and Entrepreneurship, University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led Vicarious to successful $250M+ funding and acquisition by Alphabet, Raised funding from Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Dustin Moskovitz, and major VC firms, Published peer-reviewed research in Science, NeurIPS, and ICML

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Founded first startup at age 16 - a gaming news website
- **2001-2002** — Became interested in artificial intelligence at age 19-20
- **2007** — Graduated from University of Pennsylvania
- **2008** — Founded company through Y Combinator program
- **2008-2010** — Entrepreneur in Residence at Founders Fund
- **2010** — Co-founded Vicarious with Dileep George
- **2010-2022** — CEO of Vicarious, raised $250M from prominent tech investors
- **2022** — Vicarious acquired by Intrinsic (Alphabet)
- **2022-2023** — Chief Product and Revenue Officer at Intrinsic
- **2023** — Joined Fifty Years as Partner

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led Vicarious to successful $250M+ funding and acquisition by Alphabet
- Raised funding from Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Dustin Moskovitz, and major VC firms
- Published peer-reviewed research in Science, NeurIPS, and ICML
- Designed award-winning digital art and games
- Authored multiple patents in AI and robotics
- Featured in AI documentaries 'Do You Trust This Computer?' (2018) and 'MACHINE' (2020)
- Signatory on Future of Life Institute's Open Letter on Artificial Intelligence
- Signatory on Asilomar AI Principles
- Open source game developer (Marathon Rubicon)

## Latest updates

- **2023-04** — Announced departure from Alphabet/Intrinsic to join Fifty Years as Partner
- **2023-present** — Active as Partner at Fifty Years, investing in deep tech startups addressing global challenges
- **2023-present** — Publishing on Substack blog and hosting podcast 'This is Progress'

## Links

- Website: https://dscottphoenix.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dscottphoenix
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/fuelfive

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/scott-phoenix
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-03