University of Michigan
Michigan State University
Tim RocktäschelCo-founder and Chief Scientist · RecursiveResearcher↗
Researcher · Academic
Jeff Clune
University of British ColumbiaProfessor of Computer Science
RecursiveCo-founder
Clune pioneered open-ended AI: systems that continually invent new challenges, behaviors, and designs instead of optimizing one fixed task.[1] After leading research at Uber AI, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind, he co-founded Recursive in 2026 to pursue AI systems that improve the process of creating AI.
Career & education
Current rolesUniversity of British Columbia2024-presentProfessor of Computer ScienceRecursiveJan 2026-presentCo-founder
University of British Columbia2024-presentRecursiveJan 2026-presentPreviously
Google DeepMind2023-2025Senior Research Advisor
OpenAI2020-2022Research Team Manager
Google DeepMind2023-2025OpenAI2020-2022Geometric Intelligence2015-2016
Senior LeaderWork and education history is primarily focused on AI-relevant roles and may not be comprehensive.
Citation Trend
Total citations to scholarly work, including research papers, technical reports, books and theses, as recorded by Google Scholar. Each point is a dated snapshot.
citations53,124As of Oct 27, '26
citations+5,844Since last snapshot, Jun 15, '26
Selected contributions
Genie: Generative Interactive Environments
With Jake Bruce, Michael D Dennis, Ashley Edwards, Jack Parker-Holder, Yuge Shi, Edward Hughes, Matthew Lai and others ·Genie learns from videos to turn an image into a controllable virtual world.
References
- Paired Open-Ended Trailblazer (POET): Endlessly Generating Increasingly Complex and Diverse Learning Environments and Their Solutionsarxiv.org
Clune coauthored the original 2019 POET paper: jointly generating diverse challenges and agents that solve them, demonstrating open-ended invention rather than one fixed task. His official research page independently describes this broader research agenda.
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Reviewed August 8, 2026 · Checked for accuracy and new information.
