60Jason Pruet from OpenAI is a physicist and technology leader with over 20 years of experience in science, national security, and public service. He serves as a member of the technical staff on the Mission Alignment team, working to ensure artificial intelligence is developed and applied for the benefit of humanity. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, San Diego, where his early research focused on astrophysics and nucleosynthesis. Over the course of his career, he has taken on leadership roles at Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories and spent nearly a decade in federal service guiding programs related to intelligence, science, and engineering.
He completed his doctoral studies under George Fuller, a Nobel laureate and Willy Fowler's student, and focused his dissertation on the physics of gamma-ray bursts. His work explored the role of weak processes in the engines and fireballs that drive these cosmic phenomena. After completing his degree, he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as a postdoctoral researcher supported by a SciDAC Supernova grant. He later became group leader for computational nuclear physics, where his research contributed to national security missions such as stockpile stewardship, atomic detection technologies, and forensic attribution.
In 2011, he transitioned to public service in Washington, D.C., joining the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). He managed key programs like the Primary Assessment Campaign and the Physics and Engineering Models Campaign there. He also helped establish the Capabilities for Nuclear Intelligence program, connecting national laboratories to intelligence efforts. In 2013, he became Chief of an intelligence branch within the DOE Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, overseeing assessments of foreign nuclear weapons programs. His leadership earned recognition from the Secretary of Energy and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
After nearly ten years in Washington, he moved to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where he led the Advanced Simulation and Computing program. Later, he became the founding director of the National Security AI Office at LANL, building national efforts to advance AI for Science, Energy, and Security.
In 2025, he joined OpenAI full-time. As part of the Mission Alignment team, Jason Pruet supports scientific, philanthropic, and national security initiatives, collaborating with researchers and policymakers to ensure AI serves broader societal needs.