{"version":1,"type":"story","url":"https://digestai.news/story/sakana-ai-hires-schmidhuber-as-chief-scientific-advisor","json":"https://digestai.news/story/sakana-ai-hires-schmidhuber-as-chief-scientific-advisor.json","markdown":"https://digestai.news/story/sakana-ai-hires-schmidhuber-as-chief-scientific-advisor.md","slug":"sakana-ai-hires-schmidhuber-as-chief-scientific-advisor","headline":"Sakana AI hires Schmidhuber as chief scientific advisor","summary":"Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based startup, has appointed Jürgen Schmidhuber as its chief scientific advisor. Schmidhuber, often called the 'father of modern AI,' is credited with foundational work in world models (1990) and deep learning techniques (1991). His 1987 thesis on meta-learning and recursive self-improvement laid the groundwork for AI systems that can learn to learn autonomously.\n\nSakana highlights Schmidhuber’s influence on its projects, including the *Darwin Gödel Machine* and *The AI Scientist*. The startup envisions a future where AI transcends language and achieves physical intelligence through world models. Schmidhuber will lead Sakana’s new RSI lab, focused on creating a self-reinforcing research loop to accelerate machine intelligence. Sakana aims to assemble a 'critical mass of world-class experts' in Tokyo to advance this vision.","keyPoints":["Jürgen Schmidhuber joins Sakana AI as chief scientific advisor, credited with 1990 world models and 1991 deep learning work","Sakana AI plans RSI lab to build self-reinforcing research loop for AI self-improvement, led by Schmidhuber","Startup positions itself to merge Japan’s AI/robotics legacy with physical AI systems using world models"],"whyItMatters":"Schmidhuber’s hire signals Sakana AI’s ambition to merge theoretical AI breakthroughs with physical autonomy, potentially redefining how machines interact with the real world beyond text.","category":{"slug":"research","name":"Research","url":"https://digestai.news/category/research"},"entities":{"companies":["Sakana AI"],"models":[],"people":["Jürgen Schmidhuber"]},"firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-24T18:06:13Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-24T18:06:13Z","sourceCount":1,"hasPrimarySource":false,"sources":[{"outlet":"The Decoder","title":"Sakana AI hires Jürgen Schmidhuber, inventor of deep learning, world models, and your next ChatGPT update","url":"https://the-decoder.com/sakana-ai-hires-jurgen-schmidhuber-inventor-of-deep-learning-world-models-and-your-next-chatgpt-update","publishedAt":"2026-09-24T18:06:13Z","type":"press","primary":false,"lead":true}],"sourceNotes":null,"discussions":[],"thread":null,"cite":{"text":"Digest AI, \"Sakana AI hires Schmidhuber as chief scientific advisor\", 24 September 2026, https://digestai.news/story/sakana-ai-hires-schmidhuber-as-chief-scientific-advisor","publisher":"Digest AI","title":"Sakana AI hires Schmidhuber as chief scientific advisor","datePublished":"2026-09-24T18:06:13Z","url":"https://digestai.news/story/sakana-ai-hires-schmidhuber-as-chief-scientific-advisor"},"generatedBy":"Written by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources; the sources are the record.","license":"Headlines, digests and key points are written by Digest AI and may be quoted with a link to the story page. Linked articles belong to their publishers. Terms: https://digestai.news/terms#reuse"}