Tristan Harris

Roles

1. 2007 – 2011Founder and CEO, AptureAcquired by Google in 2011.Source →
2. 2011 – Dec 2015Design Ethicist, GoogleJoined through the Apture acquisition; left in December 2015 to found Time Well Spent.Source →
3. Dec 2015 – presentCo-founder, Center for Humane TechnologyFounded as Time Well Spent; co-host of the Your Undivided Attention podcast.Source →

On the record

1. 27 Nov 2025 · Podcast · The Diary of a CEO

   The default path is companies racing to release the most powerful, inscrutable, uncontrollable technology we've ever invented with the maximum incentive to cut corners on safety.

   Co-founder, Center for Humane Technology at the time

   Said to Steven Bartlett; quoted verbatim by Fortune on 10 February 2026.

   AI could trigger a global jobs market collapse by 2027 if left unchecked, former Google ethicist warns →

2. Apr 2025 · Speech · TED2025

   We're currently releasing the most powerful, inscrutable, uncontrollable, omni-use technology we've ever invented… There's a word for what we're doing: insane. This is insane.

   Co-founder, Center for Humane Technology at the time

   Text of his TED2025 talk as published by the Center for Humane Technology.

   The Narrow Path: Why AI is Our Ultimate Test and Greatest Invitation →

3. 16 May 2023 · Interview · Issues in Science and Technology

   We are deploying this stuff far faster than we understand what the capabilities are.

   Co-founder, Center for Humane Technology at the time

   Interview With Tristan Harris →

4. 22 Mar 2023 · Interview · NBC News

   But when we're in an arms race to deploy AI to every human being on the planet as fast as possible with as little testing as possible, that's not an equation that's going to end well.

   Co-founder, Center for Humane Technology at the time

   Two weeks after he and Aza Raskin first gave "The A.I. Dilemma" talk.

   Tech watchdog who raised alarms about social media has a warning about AI →