Brendan McCord

Brendan McCord

Founder, the Cosmos Institute

A person with curly hair wearing a red blazer and patterned tie stands in front of a bookshelf filled with books and decorative items.

Brendan McCord is the founder and Chair of the Cosmos Institute and a key thinker at the intersection of AI and philosophy. In the private sector, Brendan was the founding CEO of two AI startups that were acquired for $400 million. In the public sector, Brendan was the principal founder of the first applied AI organization for the US Department of Defense and author of its first AI strategy. Brendan is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School and was a Visiting Fellow at St Catherine’s College at the University of Oxford. After MIT, he spent 610 days underwater on a submarine. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and two children.

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10 min
Will AI erode human autonomy, or help us preserve it?
Today’s technologist archetypes share a blind spot. Brendan McCord, founder of the Cosmos Institute explains why “philosophy is essential” when building planetary-scale technology.
Cosmos Institute
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9 min
3 steps to align AI with the ancient philosophy of human flourishing
How can ancient philosophical wisdom guide us in ensuring that artificial intelligence enhances human flourishing rather than diminishing it?
Cosmos Institute