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David, Goliath, and the future of AI
How Yejin Choi is challenging AI’s biggest assumptions—about common sense, about scale, and about who gets to build the future.
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Open minds. Endless possibilities.
Every day at Stanford, someone asks a question that could change how we understand the world—or how we improve it. Here we tell the stories behind that curiosity, and how philanthropy helps turn bold ideas into real-world impact.
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Our latest stories
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Mind in the mirror
Surya Ganguli is helping pioneer a new science of intelligence—one that studies how brains perceive, how AI learns, and what each can reveal about the other.
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This is the moment
Get the latest in your inbox. Sign up to receive The Moment newsletter, telling the stories of Stanford’s impact.
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Thinkers. Doers. Students. Changemakers.
Reflections from three current undergrads on three different paths. Each student is making the most of what’s possible at Stanford, supported by the generosity of Stanford donors.
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Avey Etaghene, ’27Recipient of a Stanford Fund Scholarship)
Weston Benner, ’29Recipient of the Hsu Family Scholarship)
Ella Hamilton, ’26Recipient of the John Arrillaga Family Scholarship V and the Dunlevie-Abrahamsen Family Scholarship
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Engineering the overlooked
As a Stanford undergraduate, William Tarpeh learned to spot problems others ignore. Financial aid gave him a path forward—all the way to a MacArthur Fellowship.
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Undoing injustice
Stanford Law School’s Three Strikes Project began as a challenge to draconian sentences. What followed is a national movement in criminal justice reform.
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Fighting disaster with math
Floods. Wildfires. Ice-sheet collapse. Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability geophysicist Jenny Suckale set out to address the dangerous extremes of climate change. But that required a new understanding of resilience.
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Whoever saves a life
For American Muslims, suicide represents a taboo within a taboo. Rania Awaad— a psychiatrist, faith leader, and Stanford Impact Labs Design Fellow—set out to change that.
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The name, image, and likeness of the game
New rules for paying student-athletes are changing college sports and the role of philanthropy.
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He hated pigeon peas. Now they could help feed Puerto Rico.
A Stanford alum is betting on a humble legume to help rebuild the island’s fragile food system—starting in backyard farms.
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Before the tipping point
As oceans warm and ecosystems shift, Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station is helping detect trouble early—and prevent collapse before it begins.
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Cracking autoimmunity’s toughest cases
David Fiorentino’s pursuit of hidden patterns in autoimmune disease is transforming patient care—and may lead to new strategies for cancer prevention. (A little help from his old Stanford pals didn’t hurt.)
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One curious mind can spark an idea. A community of them becomes ... unstoppable
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