Jaan Tallinn

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Jaan Tallinn

Jaan Tallinn (born 14 February 1972) is an Estonian computer programmer and investor known for his participation in the development of Skype and file-sharing application FastTrack/Kazaa. Recognized as a prominent figure in the field of artificial intelligence, Tallinn is an investor and advocate for AI safety. He was a Series A investor and board member at DeepMind (later acquired by Google) alongside Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and other early supporters. Tallinn also led the Series A funding round for Anthropic, an AI safety-focused company where he is now a board observer. Tallinn is involved in the field of existential risk, having co-founded both the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom and the Future of Life Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States.

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• Jaan Tallinn – Starmus

  Jaan Tallinn is an Estonian programmer, investor, and physicist who participated in the development of Skype in 2002 and FastTrack/Kazaa, a file-sharing application, in 2000. Jaan Tallinn is partner and co-founder of the development company Bluemoon which created the game SkyRoads. He graduated from the University of Tartu in 1996 with a BSc in Theoretical Physics with a thesis that involved traveling interstellar distances using warps in space-time. Tallinn sits on the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and is a former member of the Estonian President's Academic Advisory Board. He is also one of the founders of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, and the Future of Life Institute, and was co-founder of the personalized medical research company MetaMed. [...] default-logo Jaan Tallinn Programmer, investor and physicist Starmus IV [...] Economist, Nobel Laureate Jaan Tallinn Programmer, investor and physicist Torsten Wiesel Neurophysiologist, Nobel Laureate Alexander Volkov Cosmonaut Paul D.N. Hebert Biologist Carlos Moedas European Commission Lynn Rothschild Biologist Eugene Kaspersky Cybersecurity expert Lisa Randall Physicist Christer Fuglesang Astronaut John Delaney Professor of Oceanography Adam Smith Chief Scientific Officer, Nobel Media David Eicher Editor, writer and science popularizer Kelly Snook Music producer, and engineer Joel Parker Astrophysicist Robert Williams Astrophysicist logo Manage Consent

• Jaan Tallinn - Wikipedia

  Estonian programmer and investor | Jaan Tallinn | | Born | (1972-02-14) 14 February 1972 (age 54) Tallinn, Estonia | | Education | University of Tallinn (BSc)[contradictory] | | Occupations | programmer, investor, philanthropist | | Known for | Kazaa Skype Existential risk | Jaan Tallinn (born 14 February 1972) is an Estonian computer programmer and investor known for his participation in the development of Skype and file-sharing application FastTrack/Kazaa. Recognized as a prominent figure in the field of artificial intelligence, Tallinn is an investor and advocate for AI safety. [...] He was a Series A investor and board member at DeepMind (later acquired by Google) alongside Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and other early supporters. Tallinn also led the Series A funding round for Anthropic, an AI safety-focused company where he is now a board observer. Tallinn is involved in the field of existential risk, having co-founded both the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom and the Future of Life Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. ## Life [edit] Tallinn graduated from the University of Tartu in Estonia in 1996 with a BSc in theoretical physics with a thesis that considered travelling interstellar distances using warps in spacetime. [...] ## Other tenures [edit] Member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Former member of the Estonian President's Academic Advisory Board. Co-founder of the personalized medical research company MetaMed. Tallinn is a participant and donator to the effective altruism movement. He donated over a million dollars to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute since 2015. His initial donation when co-founding the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk in 2012 was around $200,000 (~$269,299 in 2024). ## Views [edit]

• Lifeboat Foundation Bios: Jaan Tallinn

  Skip to content Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity Toggle light / dark theme # Advisory Board Jaan Tallinn Print bio) #### Jaan Tallinn Jaan Tallinn ## Jaan Tallinn Jaan Tallinn is Founding Engineer of Skype and Kazaa, Cofounder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, and Cofounder of the Future of Life Institute, with over 25 years of experience in technology development and AI safety advocacy. He is a prominent Estonian computer programmer, investor, and leading voice in existential risk research who has invested over $100 million in more than 100 technology startups while dedicating his resources to ensuring artificial intelligence develops safely for humanity. [...] Jaan currently serves on the AI Advisory Body at the United Nations, the Board of the Center for AI Safety, and the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is an active angel investor through Metaplanet Holdings, a partner at Ambient Sound Investments, and a former investor director of DeepMind, where he was a Series A investor and board member alongside Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, before the company’s $600 million acquisition by Google in 2014. [...] As of 2019, Jaan is married with six children and resides in Tallinn, Estonia, where he continues his work as an investor and advocate for AI safety. His personal experiences as a father have made abstract existential risks more concrete, motivating his dedication to ensuring humanity’s long-term survival.

• AI Billionaire on Existential Risk: Jaan Tallinn – #112

  # AI Billionaire on Existential Risk: Jaan Tallinn – #112 ## Manifold 20700 subscribers 55 likes ### Description 2350 views Posted: 21 May 2026 Jaan Tallinn is a tech billionaire and founding engineer of Skype who leverages his wealth to mitigate existential risks from artificial general intelligence (AGI). He co-founded the Future of Life Institute and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, while making early foundational investments in frontier AI labs like DeepMind and Anthropic. Chapter Markers: [...] very unfortunate uh for many other species that we have driven extinct welcome Welcome to Manifold. My guest today is Yan Talin. I believe he is the first three-time guest on my podcast. Yan, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. For the audience, Jan is a founder of Skype. He was an early investor in Deep Mind and he was also an early investor in Anthropic. He has been very active in AI safety and to help humanity survive AI existential risk. And that is the topic that we will focus on today. Yan, we're here at Ligh Haven. Uh for those of you watching the video, you can see the Ligh Haven sign. We're in a podcasting studio at Ligh Haven. Ligh Haven is a focal point in the East Bay and in the Bay Area for people who think about existential AI risk. Yan, let me start by asking for you

• Estonian tech pioneer Jaan Tallinn named to the TIME100 Philanthropy list

  Born in Tallinn in 1972, Jaan Tallinn first became known as a co-founder of Kazaa, the file-sharing platform that became one of the early symbols of the internet’s disruptive power. He later became one of the key figures behind Skype, the communications company that transformed how people spoke across borders and became one of Estonia’s best-known technology success stories. [...] Skip to content About Contact Get Involved Supporters Estonian World Jaan Tallinn, the Estonian technology entrepreneur, philanthropist and Skype co-creator whose AI investments include Anthropic, the company behind Claude. Photo by Invest in Estonia. Jaan Tallinn, the Estonian technology entrepreneur, philanthropist and Skype co-creator whose AI investments include Anthropic, the company behind Claude. Photo by Invest in Estonia. # Estonian tech pioneer Jaan Tallinn named to the TIME100 Philanthropy list By Silver Tambur / May 29, 2026 / Leave a Comment / Technology / 3 minutes of reading Share Tweet LinkedIn Email [...] Tallinn, one of the founding engineers behind Skype, was included for his long-standing support of research into artificial intelligence safety and other existential risks. TIME highlighted his role in founding and funding the Future of Life Institute and the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, two organisations that study how humanity can reduce catastrophic risks from advanced technologies. Through the Survival and Flourishing Fund, Tallinn has helped direct about US$150 million to more than 300 projects worldwide. The recipients include METR and Epoch AI, which monitor AI development and model capabilities, and Mila, the Montreal-based AI research institute founded by Yoshua Bengio.

• Award

  Order of the White Star, 5th Class

• Image

  

• Gender

  male

• Educated At

  University of Tartu

• Instance Of

  Q5

• Occupation

  engineer

• Citizenship

  Estonia

• Date Of Birth

  2/14/1972

• Notable Work

  Skype

• Place Of Birth

  Tallinn