THE HINTON LECTURES™
Three evenings on the risks we can still act on.
NOV. 9, 10 & 11 · 5:45 TO 7:15 P.M. · JOHN W. H. BASSETT THEATRE, TORONTO & ONLINE
An annual lecture series convened by Professor Geoffrey Hinton, Nobel laureate, bringing one of the world's leading AI safety researchers to Toronto each November. The centrepiece of AI Safety Week.
About the Lectures
The Hinton Lectures.
The Hinton Lectures are hosted by the AI Safety Foundation and convened by Professor Geoffrey Hinton. Each November, a single lecturer is invited to Toronto for three consecutive evenings to set out their work in full — at length, in public and without the compression that conference talks and interviews impose.
The lecturer is chosen by a nominating committee of researchers and practitioners working at the front of the field. Jacob Steinhardt gave the inaugural lectures in 2024 and Owain Evans followed in 2025. The 2026 lecturer will be announced ahead of the week.
Each evening is pitched at a general audience — no technical background is assumed — but the substance is not softened. A prepared lecture is followed by an extended discussion, with questions taken from the theatre and from a curated queue for those watching online.
Three Nights
Three evenings, one lecturer. Titles and the 2026 lecturer will be confirmed closer to the week.
NIGHT ONE
Monday, Nov. 9 · 5:45 to 7:15 p.m. · John W. H. Bassett Theatre
The state of the field
The series opens with where capability now stands, what the evidence actually shows and which risks follow from it. Professor Hinton introduces the lecturer and joins the discussion that follows.
NIGHT TWO
Tuesday, Nov. 10 · 5:45 to 7:15 p.m. · John W. H. Bassett Theatre
What the research is learning
The second evening turns to the work itself: alignment, evaluation and interpretability. What has been established, what remains open and where progress has stalled.
NIGHT THREE
Wednesday, Nov. 11 · 5:45 to 7:15 p.m. · John W. H. Bassett Theatre
What a serious response looks like
The closing evening is solutions oriented: the governance, research and public understanding that would count as an adequate response, and what it would take to get there.
The Convener
CONVENER · DIRECTOR, AI SAFETY FOUNDATION
Geoffrey Hinton
Nobel laureate in physics (2024) · University of Toronto · Google (emeritus)
Geoffrey Hinton is a pioneer of deep learning and a 2024 Nobel laureate in physics. He is emeritus distinguished professor at the University of Toronto and was previously vice-president and engineering fellow at Google. His work on neural networks underpins most modern AI systems. He convenes the Hinton Lectures, sits on the nominating committee and is a director of the AI Safety Foundation.
Previous Lecturers
Who has lectured
before.
2025
Owain Evans, Ph.D.
Founder and director, Truthful AI
Evans works on emergent misalignment, deception and situational awareness in advanced AI systems. He is an affiliate of the Center for Human-Compatible AI at UC Berkeley, researched alignment at the University of Oxford and earned his doctorate at MIT.
2024
Jacob Steinhardt, Ph.D.
Assistant professor, UC Berkeley; founder, Transluce
Steinhardt's inaugural lectures covered the breakthroughs and risks expected over the next decade, and the way AI systems reshape markets, misuse, management and public discourse.
Nominating Committee
Who chooses
the lecturer.
The nominating committee brings together researchers and executives working at the front of AI safety. Their judgment is what keeps the series pointed at the most consequential work rather than the loudest.
Geoffrey Hinton
2024 Nobel laureate in physics
Beth Barnes
Founder and CEO, METR
Roger Grosse
Schwartz Reisman chair in technology and society
Shane Legg
Co-founder and chief AGI scientist, Google DeepMind
Capacity
1,200 per evening, plus online
Tickets
Required. Standard, senior and volunteer rates.
Venue
John W. H. Bassett Theatre · Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front St. W.
Part of AI Safety Week 2026 · Nov. 9-13 · Toronto