Rich Sutton Launches Oak Lab to Develop Self-Learning AI Agents
- Published
- Jul 13, 2026 — 17:15 UTC
Richard Sutton, the 2024 Turing Award winner and a co-founder of modern reinforcement learning, has founded Oak Lab in Toronto. Sutton critiques current deep learning methods as “weak and inefficient,” indicating a shift towards developing AI agents that can learn independently. This initiative aims to address the limitations he perceives in existing technologies. The founding of Oak Lab marks a significant step in Sutton’s ongoing contributions to AI research, following his recognition with the Turing Award. Practitioners in the AI field may find new methodologies emerging from Sutton’s work at Oak Lab, potentially influencing future AI development strategies. The Decoder reported.
By Callan Zhang · Jul 13, 2026 · Editorial standards →
Summarised from the primary source with AI assistance under human editorial oversight. Turing Wire is not a primary source — read the original for the authoritative account.
Source: The Decoder