Shayne Longpre, Ayush Chopra, and Ariel Ekblaw are recognized for work spanning AI accountability, population-scale simulation, and self-assembling space architecture.

MIT Technology Review today unveiled its 2026 Innovators Under 35 — and three MIT Media Lab researchers are among this year's honorees. As one of the most prestigious recognitions in science and technology, the annual list identifies engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs under the age of 35 who are tackling important problems in creative ways and making real, measurable progress. This year's class was selected from more than 550 nominations spanning nine countries, evaluated with the help of dozens of expert judges, and organized across four categories: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, climate and energy, and computing and robotics. MIT Media Lab claimed two of those categories.

• Shayne Longpre, a recent PhD graduate from the Human Dynamics group, is named in the Artificial Intelligence category. Now at Anthropic, his Data Provenance Initiative built global infrastructure to audit AI training data, expose hidden harms, and advocate for independent researcher access. His work helped shape the EU AI Act's red-teaming protections.

• Ayush Chopra, a researcher in the Camera Culture group, is also recognized in the Artificial Intelligence category. He developed Large Population Models (LPMs): hundreds of millions of AI agents that simulate complex, population-level events. For example, an LPM-based model correctly identified 87 of 100 predicted bird flu hot spots. He is now modeling how AI may reshape the working lives of 151 million Americans.

• Ariel Ekblaw, founder and director of the Space Exploration Initiative, is named in the Computing and Robotics category. She invented self-assembling magnetic tiles that autonomously construct large-scale infrastructure in orbit, thus eliminating the need for suited astronauts to perform dangerous manual assembly. Through the Aurelia Institute and Rendezvous Robotics, she is bringing this technology to commercial scale.

Their work reflects the Media Lab ethos at its core: transformative, human-centered, and built for a better world.