Alexander Wissner-Gross
Alexander D. Wissner-Gross is an American research scientist and entrepreneur. He is a fellow at the Institute for Applied Computational Science at Harvard University.
Education
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he researched nanotechnology, Wissner-Gross triple-majored in physics, electrical engineering and mathematics. He was awarded the Marshall Scholarship, and was the last student to triple-major at MIT before the option was discontinued. Wissner-Gross also has a Ph.D in physics from Harvard University.
Entrepreneurship
In 2007, Wissner-Gross founded the technology company CO2Stats, which measures the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by using a website. CO2Stats is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received funding from the seed venture capital firm Y Combinator. The company attracted controversy when Wissner-Gross was reported to have claimed that a single Google search emitted seven grams of, which Google disputed. Wissner-Gross denied making the claim.
Activities
Wissner-Gross co-authored a paper with mathematician Cameron Freer describing a "biophysical model for explaining sophisticated intelligent behavior in human and nonhuman animals", published in the journal Physical Review Letters, which he expected would be useful for artificial intelligence. Researcher Gary Marcus wrote an article in The New Yorker criticizing the paper, saying they were "essentially promising a television set that walks your dog".
Podcast
In 2025, Wissner-Gross joined the Moonshots Podcast with Salim Ismael, David Blundin, and host Peter Diamandis. The show highlights breaking news in technology, primarily in the artificial intelligence boom. The podcast has amassed millions of views on YouTube and regularly features Wissner-Gross's unique takes on the Singularity, Dyson spheres, and other tech accelerationist language.