Sebastian Thrun explains why advances in AI, simulation, sensors, and compute are making physical intelligence one of the most consequential technology shifts of our time.
About Sebastian Thrun
Sebastian Thrun is a pioneering roboticist, educator, and entrepreneur whose work has helped define the modern field of physical AI. He led the development of Stanford's winning vehicle in the DARPA Grand Challenge, founded Google X, and helped launch Waymo, bringing self-driving technology from research ambition to real-world deployment. At Google, he also led the creation of Google Glass, an early and influential effort to integrate AI, sensing, and computing directly into everyday human experience. Thrun's academic contributions are equally foundational. As a Stanford professor and former director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, he helped invent and popularize probabilistic robotics, the mathematical framework that enables machines to reason under uncertainty using sensors, maps, and imperfect information. His research has shaped autonomous vehicles, localization, mapping, and robotic decision-making worldwide. Through Udacity and his continuing work in robotics, Thrun has remained focused on turning breakthrough AI research into technologies that expand human capability in the physical world.
What motivated you to join the AI Builders Global Conference?
Absolutely. I'm excited because AI is moving from being primarily a digital technology to becoming something that acts in the physical world. The builders in this community, researchers, engineers, founders, and operators, will determine whether that transition creates genuinely useful, safe, and widely accessible products. I joined because I care deeply about helping ambitious people turn breakthrough ideas into things that improve everyday life.
What shaped your journey through technology and AI?
My journey began in academia, where I was drawn to one fundamental question: how can machines make good decisions when the world is uncertain? That led to my work in probabilistic robotics, and later to Stanford's autonomous-vehicle efforts, including the DARPA Grand Challenge. I then had the opportunity to bring those ideas into industry, helping found Google X, launching projects such as Google Glass, and building the early self-driving car program that became Waymo. Along the way, I also founded Udacity because I believe access to technical education is essential to ensuring more people can participate in shaping the future. What has motivated me throughout is the possibility of using AI not simply to automate screens and workflows, but to give machines the ability to perceive, reason, and help people in the real world.
Why are robotics and physical AI important to you?
Physical AI is where intelligence meets reality. It means AI systems that can see, understand, move, manipulate objects, and reliably perform useful work in homes, factories, hospitals, and beyond. For decades, robotics was constrained by brittle software, limited data, and expensive hardware. Those constraints are changing rapidly. Modern AI, better simulation, lower-cost sensors and compute, and new foundation-model approaches are making it possible to build machines that learn faster and work in far more varied environments. I believe this may become one of the most consequential technological shifts of our time, not because robots are interesting in themselves, but because they can expand human capability, improve safety, and help address shortages in labor and care.
Who should attend the AI Builders Global Conference?
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to help shape AI rather than simply observe it: founders, engineers, researchers, product leaders, investors, students, and leaders in established industries. The most exciting AI opportunities will come from people who combine technical depth with a practical understanding of real problems. Whether you are building models, products, infrastructure, or companies, or applying AI in manufacturing, healthcare, education, logistics, or robotics, this is a moment to learn from one another and form the partnerships that turn possibility into impact.