Max Tegmark

{{Short description|Swedish-American academic physicist (born 1967)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Max Tegmark | birth_name = Max Erik Shapiro | image = Max Tegmark 2024 (cropped).jpg | caption = Tegmark in 2024 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|5|5|df=y}} | birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden{{citation needed lead|date=December 2025}} | death_date = | death_place = | residence = | field = Cosmology, physics, machine learning | work_institution = Massachusetts Institute of Technology Future of Life Institute | alma_mater = Stockholm School of Economics (BA) Royal Institute of Technology (MSE) University of California, Berkeley (MA, PhD) | thesis_title = Probes of the Early Universe | thesis_year = 1994 | thesis_url = https://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/thesis.pdf | doctoral_advisor = Joseph Silk | doctoral_students = | known_for = | societies = | prizes = | religion = | footnotes = | signature = Signature_of_max_tergmark.jpg }} '''Max Tegmark''' (born 5 May 1967<ref name=TegmarkOxford/>) is a Swedish-American physicist, machine learning researcher and author. He is a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He co-founded and leads the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit focused on reducing global catastrophic risks from advanced technologies.<ref name=":2" />

Originally a cosmologist, Tegmark's focus shifted toward artificial intelligence (AI). His 2017 book ''Life 3.0'' presents scenarios for what the world might look like as AI continues to develop.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harari |first=Yuval Noah |date=2017-09-22 |title=Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark review – we are ignoring the AI apocalypse |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/22/life-30-max-tegmark-review |access-date=2026-01-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Tegmark advocates for a halt on the development of artificial superintelligence.<ref name=":3" />

==Early life== Max Erik Tegmark was born Max Erik Shapiro<ref name="x42"/><ref name = TegmarkOMU/> in Stockholm, Sweden,<ref name=":4" /> on 5 May 1967,<ref name="TegmarkOxford">{{cite web |author= |date= |title=Tegmark |url=http://philosophy-of-cosmology.ox.ac.uk/tegmark.html |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=Oxford University Philosophy of Cosmology}}</ref> to Karin Tegmark and mathematician Harold S. Shapiro.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=2020-08-12 |title=AI-professorn årets svensk – bygger app mot fake news |url=https://www.sviv.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SvD-uppslag-Tegmark.pdf |work=Svenskar i Världen |language=sv}}</ref>

Tegmark grew up in Bromma, Stockholm. During his studies at Blackeberg's high school, he worked as a volunteer for the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, campaigning for nuclear disarmament.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Max Tegmark Och Kärnvapenfrågan |url=https://www.svenskafreds.se/upptack/fred-och-sakerhet/max-tegmark-och-karnvapenfragan/ |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society |language=sv-SE}}</ref>

While studying at the University of California at Berkeley, he adopted his mother's surname Tegmark, as there were many astronomers named Shapiro, including one of his professors.<ref name="TegmarkOMU" /><ref name=":5" /> While in high school, Tegmark and a friend, Magnus Bodin, created and sold a word processor, Teddy, written in machine code for the Swedish eight-bit computer ABC 80 as a summer project, which was marketed "in a very modest manner" by Liber Läromedel,<ref name="x42">{{cite web |last=Bodin |first=Magnus |date=21 July 2011 |title=Teddy—1984 |url=https://x42.com/teddy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721064604/https://x42.com/teddy/ |archive-date=21 July 2011 |access-date=2023-05-05 |work=x42.com (personal website of Magnus Bodin) |publisher=self-published}}{{better source|date=December 2025}}</ref> and—per Tegman's autobiographical description—he also coded a 3D Tetris-like game called Frac.<ref name="TegmarkOMU">{{cite book |author=Tegmark |first=Max |url= |title=Our Mathematical Universe |date=2014 |publisher=Knopf |isbn= |location= |access-date=}}</ref>{{rp|p.55}}

Tegmark left Sweden after receiving his B.A. in economics in 1989 at the Stockholm School of Economics,<ref name=":4" /> and an M.S.E in engineering physics from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2015 - Max Tegmark |url=https://www.kth.se/om/upptack/priser/kths-stora-pris/samtliga-pristagare/2015-max-tegmark-1.607344 |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=KTH |language=sv-SE}}</ref> He next studied physics at the University of California, Berkeley, earning his M.A. in 1992, and Ph.D. in 1994 under the supervision of Joseph Silk.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |author= |first= |date= |title=Faculty: Max Tegmark—Professor |url=http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/tegmark_max.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528034558/http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/tegmark_max.html |archive-date=28 May 2013 |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=physics.mit.edu |format=faculty autobiography}}</ref>

==Career== Tegmark started as an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving tenure in 2003.<ref name=":4" /> In 2004, he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's department of physics.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=Hagey |first1=Keach |author-link1=Keach Hagey |last2=Schechner |first2=Sam |date=2026-01-04 |title=The Physicist Who Has Appealed to the Pope and Elon Musk on AI Safety |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/who-is-max-tegmark-future-of-life-institute-accffffc |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

Tegmark is a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the president of the Future of Life Institute,<ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine |date=2023-09-07 |title=TIME100 AI {{!}} Max Tegmark {{!}} Co-Founder and President, Future of Life Institute |url=https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/6310651/max-tegmark/ |access-date=2026-01-11 |magazine=Time}}</ref> a nonprofit he co-founded with Anthony Aguirre, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.<ref name="bostinno_elon_article">{{cite web |author=Strong, Rebecca |date=2015-01-15 |title=3 Things to Know About the Elon Musk-Backed Future of Life Institute |url=http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/01/15/elon-musk-future-of-life-institute-artificial-intelligence-research-could-be-crucial/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702102032/http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/01/15/elon-musk-future-of-life-institute-artificial-intelligence-research-could-be-crucial/ |archive-date=2015-07-02 |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=BostInno (bostinno.streetwise.co) |publisher=Streetwise Media |quote=Now, Musk is serving on the scientific advisory board at the... Institute and has also donated $10 million to the organization... [stating in a quoted X post that he was] 'Funding research on artificial intelligence safety...'. / 'Hopefully this grant program will help shift our focus from building things just because we can, toward building things because they are good for us in the long term,' said institute co-founder Meia Chita-Tegmark on the group's website. / The organization was founded by MIT physics professor Max Tegmark, along with UC Santa Cruz professor Anthony Aguirre. The pair also founded the Foundational Questions Institute, a research organization that explores the foundations of physics and cosmology. / Other key people with the... Institute include Jaan Tallinn, a founding engineer of Skype and Kazaa...; Boston University PhD candidate Meia Chita-Tegmark; and Harvard University PhD candidate Viktoriya Krakovna. / Two... actors serve on the advisory board: Morgan Freeman and Alan Alda. |location=Boston, MA}}</ref>

==Research==  === Cosmology === Tegmark has worked on precision cosmology, which combines "theoretical work with new measurements to place sharp constraints on cosmological models and their free parameters".<ref name=":4" /> He has developed data analysis tools based on information theory and applied them to cosmic microwave background experiments such as COBE, QMAP, and WMAP,<ref name=":0" /> and to galaxy redshift surveys such as the Las Campanas Redshift Survey, the 2dF Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cowen |first=Ron |date=2003-10-29 |title=Cosmic Survey: Galaxy map reveals dark business as usual |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cosmic-survey-galaxy-map-reveals-dark-business-usual |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=Science News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Alongside Daniel Eisenstein and Wayne Hu, he introduced in 1998 in ''The Astrophysical Journal'' the idea of using baryon acoustic oscillations as a standard ruler.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |author=Tegmark, Max |title=Philosophy of Cosmology |url=http://philosophy-of-cosmology.ox.ac.uk/tegmark.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216025838/http://philosophy-of-cosmology.ox.ac.uk/tegmark.html |archive-date=16 February 2016 |access-date=2016-02-15 |website=University of Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eisenstein |first1=Daniel J. |last2=Hu |first2=Wayne |last3=Tegmark |first3=Max |date=1998 |title=Cosmic Complementarity: H0 and Ωm from Combining Cosmic Microwave Background Experiments and Redshift Surveys |url= |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=504 |issue=2 |pages=L57–L60 |arxiv=astro-ph/9805239 |doi=10.1086/311582 |bibcode=1998ApJ...504L..57E |issn=0004-637X}}</ref> His 2000 paper in ''Physical Review E'', on quantum decoherence of neurons, concluded that decoherence is too rapid for Roger Penrose's orchestrated objective reduction ("quantum microtubule") model of consciousness to be viable.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Seife |first=Charles |date=4 February 2000 |title=Cold Numbers Unmake the Quantum Mind |journal=Science |volume=287 |issue=5454 |pages=791 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5454.791 |pmid=10691548 |s2cid=33761196}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tegmark |first=Max |date=1999 |title=The Importance of Quantum Decoherence in Brain Processes |journal= Physical Review E|volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=4194–4206 |arxiv=quant-ph/9907009 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevE.61.4194 |pmid=11088215 |bibcode=2000PhRvE..61.4194T }}</ref> Working with Angelica de Oliveira-Costa and Andrew Hamilton, Tegmark reported in 2003 the discovery of the anomalous multipole alignment in the WMAP data, sometimes referred to as the "axis of evil".<ref name=":0" /> Tegmark also proposed in 2007 the mathematical universe hypothesis, which postulates that the physical universe is a mathematical structure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tegmark |first=Max |date=2007 |title=The Mathematical Universe |journal=Foundations of Physics |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=101–150 |doi=10.1007/s10701-007-9186-9 |arxiv=0704.0646 |bibcode=2008FoPh...38..101T }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tegmark |first=Max |date=2007-09-12 |title=Mathematical cosmos: Reality by numbers |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526210-500-mathematical-cosmos-reality-by-numbers/ |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}</ref> Mathematician Edward Frenkel characterized the mathematical universe hypothesis as "science fiction and mysticism" rather than science.<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Edward Frenkel |date=February 14, 2014 |title=Ad Infinitum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/books/review/our-mathematical-universe-by-max-tegmark.html |newspaper=The New York Times |author-last1=Frenkel |author-first1=Edward}}</ref>

=== Journalism === Tegmark led a research project at MIT, beginning in 2020, focused on the application of machine learning to the classification of news reports.<ref name="ITN20230714" /> They called the AI-driven news aggregator "Improving the News".<ref name="ITN20230714">{{cite web |author= |date=2023-07-14 |title=Frequently Asked Questions—Who's Behind This? |url=https://www.improvethenews.org/faq |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714115618/https://www.improvethenews.org/faq |archive-date=2023-07-14 |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=Improve the News}}{{primary source inline|date=December 2025}}</ref><ref name="Verity20251208">{{cite web |author= |date=2025-12-08 |title=About: What is Verity? ... Who is Behind Verity? |url=https://www.verity.news/about |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=Verity News}}</ref> To maintain and scale the work, Tegmark and his wife and colleague Meia Chita-Tegmark founded the eponymous Improve the News Foundation (ITN) as an "apolitical" 501(c)(3) nonprofit in October 2020, with the stated mission to help "readers rise above controversies and understand the world in a nuanced way."<ref name="Verity20251208" /> The ITN product was rebranded as "Verity News" in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2023-09-05 |title=Use Verity to help teach media literacy skills |url=https://jea.org/digital-media/use-verity-to-help-teach-media-literacy-skills/ |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=JEA |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Machine learning === In the 2010s, after having focused on cosmology and quantum information for around 25 years, Tegmark's research started to focus on machine learning and AI safety.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-01 |title=#133 – Max Tegmark on how a 'put-up-or-shut-up' resolution led him to work on AI and algorithmic news selection |url=https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/max-tegmark-ai-and-algorithmic-news-selection/ |website=80,000 Hours |quote=After focusing on cosmology for 25 years, he shifted his MIT research group to machine learning six years ago, helping launch MIT’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions}}</ref> He has worked at the MIT on how to use AI in physics and how to improve AI using insights from physics.<ref name=":4" /> In 2024, he co-authored a paper introducing Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs), which differ fundamentally from the neural networks typically used in machine learning and are designed to be more interpretable. KANs are based on the Kolmogorov–Arnold representation theorem, which was previously thought to be irrelevant to machine learning.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nadis |first1=Steve |date=11 Sep 2024 |title=Novel Architecture Makes Neural Networks More Understandable |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/novel-architecture-makes-neural-networks-more-understandable-20240911/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911145645/https://www.quantamagazine.org/novel-architecture-makes-neural-networks-more-understandable-20240911/ |archive-date=11 Sep 2024 |access-date=24 September 2025 |work=Quanta Magazine}}</ref>

==Future of Life Institute== Under Tegmark's founding leadership, the Future of Life Institute has pursued a stated mission to "steer transformative technologies away from extreme, large-scale risks and towards benefiting life."<ref name="FoLImission">{{cite web |author=FoLI Staff |date=2025-12-08 |title=About Us—Ourt Mission |url=https://futureoflife.org/about-us/ |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=Future of Life Institute |quote=The Future of Life Institute’s mission is to steer transformative technologies away from extreme, large-scale risks and towards benefiting life.}} Note, as of that date, Max Tegmark was the President of FoLI.</ref> It is focused on research aiming to mitigate existential risks for humanity, particularly those related to advanced AI.<ref name="techcrunch_elon_article">{{cite news |author=Etherington, Darrell |date=January 15, 2015 |title=Elon Musk Donates $10M To Make Sure AI Doesn't Go The Way Of Skynet |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/15/elon-musk-donates-10m-to-make-sure-ai-doesnt-go-the-way-of-skynet/ |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref> A co-founding faculty member was University of California, Santa Cruz professor Anthony Aguirre, and its board-level leadership has included Elon Musk, Skype- and Kazaa-founder Jaan Tallinn, as well as celebrities (Alan Alda and Morgan Freeman), and individual graduate students (including his wife, Meia Chita-Tegmark, then a Boston University PhD-student).<ref name="bostinno_elon_article"/> Tegmark and the organization are academic proponents of approaches and views that are aware and wrestle with the potential risks associated with the development of AI.<ref name="techcrunch_elon_article"/> It received a cryptocurrency donation of $665 million donation from Vitalik Buterin in 2021, as well as a $10 million donation from Elon Musk in 2015 and additional funding by Jaan Tallinn.<ref name=":3" />

In 2023, Tegmark was the focus of a controversy when he was alleged to have signed a letter of intent on behalf of the Future of Life Institute for a $100,000 grant—ultimately rejected—to far-right media outlet ''Nya Dagbladet'', an outlet for which Tegmark's brother wrote,<ref name=ExpoDotSe/><ref>{{cite web | author = Hume, Tim | date = January 19, 2023 | title = Elon Musk-Backed Non-Profit Offered $100K Grant to 'Pro-Nazi' Media Outlet | work = Vice News | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/future-of-life-institute-max-tegmark-elon-musk/ | access-date=2023-05-25 | url-status = dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503144450/https://www.vice.com/en/article/93a475/future-of-life-institute-max-tegmark-elon-musk | archive-date=3 May 2023 }}</ref> an allegation to which the Institute formally responded.<ref name="futureoflife.org">{{Cite web |author= |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Statement on a Controversial Rejected Grant Proposal |url=https://futureoflife.org/rejection_statement/ |access-date=2023-06-14 |work=Future of Life Institute |language=en-US}}</ref> Tegmark later said that the Institute "ultimately decided to reject it because of what our subsequent due diligence uncovered", that they rejected it long before the media became involved, and that the institute "finds Nazi, neo-Nazi or pro-Nazi groups or ideologies despicable and would never knowingly support them".<ref>{{Cite web |author= |date=16 January 2023 |orig-date=13 January 2023 |title=[Linkpost] FLI alleged to have offered funding to far right foundation |url=https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/5vFmMXWsh6PaYjqab/linkpost-fli-alleged-to-have-offered-funding-to-far-right?commentId=Dn88oPPMdDK9dpmjh |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=forum.effectivealtruism.org |language=en}}</ref> An official statement from the Future of Life Institute further expands on this: "FLI finds groups or ideologies espousing antisemitism, white supremacy, or racism despicable and would never knowingly support any such group".<ref name="futureoflife.org"/>

==Awards and recognition== Tegmark was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2012 for, according to the citation, "his contributions to cosmology, including precision measurements from cosmic microwave background and galaxy clustering data, tests of inflation and gravitation theories, and the development of a new technology for low-frequency radio interferometry".<ref name=APSfellow>{{Cite web |title=APS Fellow Archive |url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509035726/https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=1996&unit_id=DNP&institution= |archive-date=9 May 2020 |access-date=23 January 2013 |website=American Physical Society}}</ref>

He was awarded the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science's Gold Medal in 2019 for, according to the citation, "his contributions to our understanding of humanity's place in the cosmos and the opportunities and risks associated with artificial intelligence. He has courageously tackled these existential questions in his research and, in a commendable way, succeeded in communicating the issues to a wider public."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hans Dalborg, Daniel Ek, Martin Lorentzon, Lena Olving and Max Tegmark to be awarded IVA's Gold Medals |url=https://www.iva.se/en/published/hans-dalborg-daniel-ek-martin-lorentzon-lena-olving-and-max-tegmark-to-be-awarded-ivas-gold-medals/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126085541/https://www.iva.se/en/published/hans-dalborg-daniel-ek-martin-lorentzon-lena-olving-and-max-tegmark-to-be-awarded-ivas-gold-medals/ |archive-date=26 January 2021 |access-date=24 April 2020 |website=Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences}}</ref>

In 2023, ''Time'' named Tegmark one of the 100 most influential people in AI.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2023-09-07 |title=TIME100 AI 2023: Max Tegmark |url=https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/6310651/max-tegmark/ |access-date=2023-12-27 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref>

==Publications== ===Books=== * {{cite book |author=Tegmark |first=Max |date=2014 |title=Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality |isbn= |location= |publisher=Knopf |url= |access-date=}}

* {{cite book |author=Tegmark |first=Max |date=2017 |title=Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence |isbn= |location= |publisher=Knopf |url= |access-date=}}

===Selected articles=== * {{cite journal |last=Eisenstein |first=Daniel J. |author2=Hu, Wayne |author3=Tegmark, Max |year=1998 |title=Cosmic Complementarity: <math>H_0</math> and <math>\Omega_m</math> from Combining Cosmic Microwave Background Experiments and Redshift Surveys |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=504 |issue=2 |pages=L57–L60 |arxiv=astro-ph/9805239 |bibcode=1998ApJ...504L..57E |doi=10.1086/311582 |s2cid=8824919}} * {{cite journal |last=Tegmark|first=Max |title=The Importance of Quantum Decoherence in Brain Processes|journal=Physical Review E|date=1 April 2000|volume=61|issue=4 |pages=4194–4206 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevE.61.4194|pmid=11088215 |arxiv = quant-ph/9907009 |bibcode=2000PhRvE..61.4194T|s2cid=17140058 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Tegmark |first1=Max |last2=de Oliveira-Costa |first2=Angélica |last3=Hamilton |first3=Andrew |date=1 December 2003 |title=High Resolution Foreground Cleaned CMB Map from WMAP |journal=Physical Review D |volume=68 |issue=12 |article-number=123523 |arxiv=astro-ph/0302496 |bibcode=2003PhRvD..68l3523T |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.68.123523 |s2cid=17981329}} * {{Cite journal |last1=Tegmark |first1=Max |last2=Strauss |first2=Michael |display-authors=1 |date=2004 |title=Cosmological parameters from SDSS and WMAP |url= |journal=Physical Review D |volume=69 |issue=10 |article-number=103501 |arxiv=astro-ph/0310723 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.69.103501 |bibcode=2004PhRvD..69j3501T }} * {{Cite journal |last1=Tegmark |first1=Max |last2=Blanton |first2=Michael |display-authors=1 |date=2004 |title=The three-dimensional power spectrum of galaxies from the sloan digital sky survey |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=606 |issue=2 |pages=702–740 |doi=10.1086/382125|arxiv=astro-ph/0310725 |bibcode=2004ApJ...606..702T }} * {{cite journal|last=Tegmark|first=Max|title=The Mathematical Universe|year=2008|journal=Foundations of Physics|volume=38|issue=2|pages=101–150|doi=10.1007/s10701-007-9186-9|bibcode = 2008FoPh...38..101T |arxiv = 0704.0646 |s2cid=9890455}} * {{cite journal | last1=Aguirre | first1=Anthony | author-link1 = Anthony Aguirre | last2=Tegmark | first2=Max | author-link2 = Max Tegmark | date=2011-11-03 | title=Born in an Infinite Universe: A Cosmological Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics | journal=Physical Review D | volume=84 | issue=10 | issn=1550-7998 | doi=10.1103/physrevd.84.105002 | article-number=105002|arxiv=1008.1066| bibcode=2011PhRvD..84j5002A | s2cid=17341893}}

==Media activities== * In 2006, Tegmark was one of fifty scientists interviewed by ''New Scientist'' about their predictions for the future. His prediction: "In 50 years, you may be able to buy T-shirts on which are printed equations describing the unified laws of our universes."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Tegmark |first=Max |date=18 November 2006 |title=Max Tegmark forecasts the future |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225780.084-max-tegmark-forecasts-the-future.html |magazine=New Scientist |access-date=2012-11-01 |archive-date=9 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609002954/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225780.084-max-tegmark-forecasts-the-future.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * Tegmark appears in the 2007 documentary ''Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives'' in which he is interviewed by Mark Oliver Everett, son of the founder of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, Hugh Everett. * Tegmark also appears in "Who's Afraid of a Big Black Hole?", "What Time is It?", "To Infinity and Beyond", "Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?", "What is Reality?" and "Which Universe Are We In?", all part of the BBC's ''Horizon'' scientific series of programmes. * He appears in several episodes of ''Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible'', an American documentary television series on science which first aired in the United States on December 1, 2009. The series is hosted by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. * Tegmark was interviewed by Morgan Freeman in seasons 2 and 3 of ''Through the Wormhole'' in 2011–2012. * Tegmark participated in the episode "Zooming Out" of BBC World Service's ''The Forum'', which first aired on BBC Radio 4 on 26 April 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 April 2014 |title=BBC Radio 4 - The Forum, Zooming Out |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041txvp |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=BBC Radio 4 |language=en-GB |archive-date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415115535/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041txvp |url-status=live }}</ref> * In 2014, Tegmark co-authored an op-ed in ''The Huffington Post'' with Stephen Hawking, Frank Wilczek and Stuart Russell on the movie ''Transcendence''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hawking |first1=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Hawking |last2=Tegmark |first2=Max |last3=Russell |first3=Stuart |date=April 19, 2014 |title=Transcending Complacency On Superintelligent Machines |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-intelligence_b_5174265 |website=HuffPost |access-date=7 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308112957/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-intelligence_b_5174265 |url-status=live }}</ref> * In 2014, "The Perpetual Earth Program," a play based on Tegmark's book ''Our Mathematical Universe'', was mounted in New York City as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festival.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chichester |first=Sarah M. |date=10 June 2014 |title=The Perpetual Earth Program |url=http://nytheaternow.com/2014/06/10/the-perpetual-earth-program/ |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714231858/http://nytheaternow.com/2014/06/10/the-perpetual-earth-program/ |archivedate=July 14, 2014 |website=Nytheatre.com}}</ref> * In 2014, he featured in ''The Principle'', a documentary examining the Copernican Principle.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2458876/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm | title=The Principle (2014) | website=IMDb | access-date=30 June 2018 | archive-date=26 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326143042/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2458876/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm | url-status=live }}</ref> * In 2015, Tegmark participated in an episode of Sam Harris' the Waking Up podcast entitled "The Multiverse & You (& You & You & You...)" where they discussed topics such as artificial intelligence and the mathematical universe hypothesis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Sam |url=http://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-multiverse-you-you-you-you |title=The Multiverse & You (& You & You & You...) |publisher=Sam Harris |date=23 September 2015 |access-date=2015-11-22 |archive-date=22 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122021141/http://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-multiverse-you-you-you-you |url-status=live }}</ref> * In 2017, Tegmark gave a talk entitled "Effective altruism, existential risk & existential hope" at the world's largest annual conference of the effective altruism movement.<ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media | people = Tegmark, Max | date=2017-06-17| title = Effective Altruism Global: Effective Altruism, Existential Risk and Existential Hope | work = YouTube.com | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f1lmNqbgrk | access-date=2018-05-19}}{{primary source inline|date=December 2025}}{{third party inline|date=December 2025}} For archived versions, see [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/2f1lmNqbgrk Ghostarchive] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20180622054252/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f1lmNqbgrk&feature=youtu.be&t=1548. the Wayback Machine].</ref> * In 2017, Tegmark participated in an episode of Sam Harris' the Waking Up podcast entitled "The Future of Intelligence" where they discussed topics such as artificial intelligence and definitions of life.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Sam |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-future-of-intelligence |title=The Future of Intelligence) |publisher=Sam Harris |date=27 August 2017 |access-date=2017-08-27 |archive-date=31 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831174414/https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-future-of-intelligence |url-status=live }}</ref> * In 2018, Tegmark took part in a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman about Artificial General Intelligence as part of a MIT course on AGI. He was the first guest on the Lex Fridman podcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lexfridman.com/max-tegmark/ |title=Max Tegmark: Life 3.0 |publisher=Lex Fridman |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=2020-01-19 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930102950/https://lexfridman.com/max-tegmark/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was interviewed again on the Lex Fridman podcast in 2021<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL4j4KPwNGM |title=Max Tegmark: AI and Physics {{!}} Lex Fridman Podcast #155 |type=Podcast |access-date=16 February 2022 |archive-date=16 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216182320/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL4j4KPwNGM |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2023.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVfceTsD0A&ab_channel=LexFridman |title=Max Tegmark: The Case for Halting AI Development {{!}} Lex Fridman Podcast #371 |date=13 April 2023 |type=Podcast |access-date=13 April 2023 |archive-date=13 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413172949/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVfceTsD0A&ab_channel=LexFridman |url-status=live }}</ref> * Tegmark is interviewed in the 2018 documentary on artificial intelligence, ''Do You Trust This Computer?''.{{cn|date=December 2025}}

==Personal life== Tegmark married astrophysicist Angelica de Oliveira-Costa in 1997, and divorced in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Max & Angelica's Virtual Wedding |url=https://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/first_wedding.html |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=space.mit.edu}}</ref> They have two sons.<ref name=":4" /> On August 5, 2012, Tegmark married Meia Chita.<ref name=":4" />

Tegmark's brother is the journalist Per Shapiro, who has written for the far-right, populist Swedish newspaper ''Nya Dagbladet''.<ref name="ExpoDotSe">{{Cite web |author=Dalsbro |first1=Anders |last2=Leman |first2=Jonathan |date=2023-01-16 |orig-date=2023-01-13 |title=Elon Musk-Funded Nonprofit Run by MIT Professor Offered to Finance Swedish Pro-Nazi Group |url=https://expo.se/2023/01/elon-musk-funded-nonprofit-run-mit-professor-offered-finance-swedish-pro-nazi-group |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=Expo.se |language=en}}</ref>

==See also== *List of astronomers *List of physicists

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{Official website|http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/}}

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