Sims Witherspoon

Why you should listen

A leader at the AI research lab DeepMind, Sims Witherspoon is focused on finding ways for artificial intelligence to both advance science and benefit humanity. Although she calls herself a techno-optimist, she is not a techno-solutionist -- someone who expects technology to solve all our problems for us -- and she welcomes debate on the difference.
Sims spent the last decade building technologies for social good and was a founding member of Google's Crisis Response team, which develops and activates products like SOS Alerts that deliver timely, relevant information to people during natural and human-made crises. She is also the cofounder of the Centre for AI & Climate, an international organization connecting technology, policy and business to accelerate the world's transition to net zero.