Sebastian Thrun
German-American roboticist who led Google’s self-driving car project and founded Udacity
- Age
- 59 yrs
- Birthday in 189 days
- Works listed
- 1
- Book
- Honours
- 1
- Most recent 2011
- Profile views
- 3
- 0 followers
Sebastian Thrun is a German-American computer scientist whose Stanford robot car Stanley won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. He then founded Google X and its self-driving car project, which became Waymo, and co-founded the online-education company Udacity.
Biography
Background
Thrun earned his PhD at the University of Bonn and taught at Carnegie Mellon, working on probabilistic robotics and robot museum guides.
Stanley
At Stanford he led the team whose car Stanley completed the 212-km desert course to win the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge.
Google X
He co-founded Google Street View work and in 2009 Google’s self-driving car project, and founded Google X, which also produced Google Glass.
Udacity and beyond
In 2011 his free online AI course with Peter Norvig drew 160,000 students, leading him to found Udacity. He later founded the flying-car company Kitty Hawk and works on AI in medicine.
Timeline
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1967
Born in Solingen, West Germany
-
1995
PhD from Bonn
-
2003
Joins Stanford
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2005
Stanley wins DARPA Grand Challenge
-
2009
Starts Google’s self-driving car project
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2011
Online AI course; founds Udacity
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2016
Kitty Hawk
Notable works
-
2005
Probabilistic Robotics Book
With Wolfram Burgard and Dieter Fox.
Awards and honours
-
Max Planck Research Award
2011
Did you know?
-
1
Stanley is displayed at the Smithsonian.
-
2
His online course helped start the MOOC boom.
-
3
He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Sebastian Thrun?
Sebastian Thrun is a German-American computer scientist whose Stanford robot car Stanley won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. He then founded Google X and its self-driving car project, which became Waymo, and co-founded the online-education company Udacity.
How old is Sebastian Thrun?
Sebastian Thrun is 59 years old, born on 14 May 1967 in Solingen, West Germany.
Where is Sebastian Thrun from?
Sebastian Thrun was born in Solingen, West Germany.
What is Sebastian Thrun known for?
Sebastian Thrun is best known for Stanley (DARPA Grand Challenge 2005); founding Google X and the self-driving car project; Udacity; Kitty Hawk.
What awards has Sebastian Thrun received?
Notable honours include Max Planck Research Award (2011).
References
- Sebastian Thrun — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Sebastian Thrun — IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Sebastian Thrun (Q62901) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Sebastian Thrun”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Sebastian Thrun.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/sebastian-thrun
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