Alex Krizhevsky, a popular figure in the artificial intelligence (AI) universe, is known for his transformative role in shaping artificial neural networks and deep learning.
His pioneering work in neural networks and computer vision (which is now central to facial recognition) laid the foundation that sparked the application of AI in diverse sectors.
Notably, he co-designed AlexNet – a neural network framework that won the ImageNet challenge in 2012.
With the age of AI dawning on us, folks from all walks of life are curious about the protegee behind the prevailing breakthroughs in AI.
So, who is Alex Krizhevsky?
Alex Krizhevsky is a Ukrainian-born Canadian computer scientist who has etched his name on the list of a closely linked network of brilliant men and women widely recognized for pushing research boundaries in artificial intelligence.
Born on August 10, 1987, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Alex Krizhevsky is a genius maker who is highly esteemed by key players such as Google, Open AI, Facebook, and other institutions where cutting-edge AI research is dominant.
Herein, we take a closer look at Alex Krizhevsky’s early life, his professional journey, and notable accomplishments.
Alex Krizhevsky’s Profile Summary
- Full name: Alex Krizhevsky
- Gender: Male
- Date of birth: August 10, 1987
- Age: 36 years (as of 2023)
- Place of birth: Kyiv, Ukraine
- Current residence: Mountain View, California, United States
- Hometown: Kyiv, Ukraine
- Nationality: Ukrainian, Canadian
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Religion: Christian
- Sexuality: Straight.
- Hair color: Blonde
- Eye color: Hazel
- University: University of Toronto, Canada
- Profession: Computer scientist, Machine Learning Expert, AI Researcher.
- Networth: Estimated to be $2.1 million
Early life
Alex Krizhevsky was born in Ukraine before his family emigrated to Canada.
While at an early age, he exhibited an impressive aptitude for science and technology and was particularly passionate about mathematics.
In his own admission, he grew up with supportive parents and siblings, a factor that encouraged him to freely explore his interests.
Family
When it comes to keeping family matters under wraps, Alex is perhaps the gold standard.
The popular scientist does not shy away from crediting his fame and success to his family and their unwavering support.
He, however, prefers to maintain a private life and as such, not much is available in the public sphere about parents, siblings, and relationships.
On the contrary, it is his passion and collaborative contributions to the field of AI that manages to see the limelight.
Educational Background
As a teenager, Alex attended a local municipal high school in Kyiv, where he showcased his passion for mathematics and computer science.
At the time, the concept of AI was far-fetched with no widespread applications.
Alex’s fascination and curiosity about AI would, however, lead him to immerse his focus in the world of programming.
Soon after his family moved to Toronto, Canada, Alex pursued a higher education degree at the University of Toronto, where he specialized in machine learning.
During that time, Alex Krizhevsky became protegee to Dr. Geoffrey Hinton – a household name in the AI community – who honed his skills and helped him build a foundation for his future contributions.
Professional Career and Notable Achievements
Soon after completing his undergraduate studies, Alex Krizhevsky was determined to pursue his AI vision.
Thanks to his brilliance, he joined the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, where he pursued his doctoral studies.
At the time, he had been taken under the wing of his mentor – Dr. Geoffrey Hinton – who encouraged him to specialize in neural networks.
Alex gained deeper insights into machine learning and, improving on his mentor’s early work, played a pivotal role in developing computer vision.
Together with Hinton, Alex co-designed a groundbreaking startup (dubbed AlexNet) which illustrated that a neural network could recognize common objects and images with extreme accuracy than any other technology at the time.
The startup, later sold to Google in 2013, won the ImageNet Visual Recognition Challenge in 2012.
The success of AlexNet is widely considered the turning point in the history of artificial intelligence, thanks to Alex Krizhevsky’s pioneering work in deep learning.
Along with his partner Dr. Hinton, Alex co-founded an AI-focused research center called DNNresarch Inc, where his efforts in exploring the bounds of AI caught Google’s attention.
In 2013, his company, DNNresearch Inc. was consequently acquired by Google.
To date, his expertise in machine learning and neural networks is thought to have laid the foundation for Google’s AI initiatives.
He soon joined the tech giant’s Brain Team as a key member.
Over the years, Alex has continued to work collaboratively in different capacities with numerous companies to enhance the capacity of AI with respect to autonomous systems, image recognition, and natural language processing.
As part of his illustrious career, Alex has occupied numerous positions, including as a Venture Partner at Two Bear Capital, Engineer at Google Brain Team, Advisor at Block Inc., Board Observer at VERAFI, and the Principal Machine Learning Architect at Dessa.
During Alex’s Google tenure, he notably worked on Google Photos and the company’s proprietary self-driving car project before leaving his role in 2017.
Elsewhere, Alex continues to publish his research work and studies on computer vision and reinforcement learning, a sub-field of Machine Learning.
He is highly regarded in many quarters as the brain that’s making AI become a formidable force in the realms of technology.
Alex Krizhevsky’s Net Worth
Alex has an estimated net worth of $2.1 million.
While a section of his income is derived from his venture partnerships, his biggest paycheck came between 2013 and 2017 while he was a Staff Engineer at Google’s Brain Team, where he earned an estimated $415,000 per year.
His specific annual income working for Dessa is not yet known. However, considering his
association with numerous key players in the tech industry, not to mention the sale of his
company, DNN Research Inc., Alex has enjoyed considerable financial success, and that is
only expected to grow.
What Is Alex Krizhevsky Up To Currently?
After he became disinterested in his work at Google, Alex Krizhevsky quit his role in 2017 and is currently working as a Machine Learning engineer at Dessa.
He is focused on deep learning techniques and has published numerous papers on computer vision.
He has created numerous datasets, including CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, and others.
Summary
Alex Krizhevsky is a brilliant mind whose dedication to advancing deep learning laid the groundwork in the field of artificial intelligence.
Notably, his work on AlexNet, alongside his mentor, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, is credited for revolutionizing the AI landscape.
Early applications of his work included facial recognition technology, but that didn’t stop there.
He opened up new frontiers in the field, which has undoubtedly had a profound impact on many sectors of society, and is considered a force in the tech world.
