I'm Ben; I live in San Francisco. I do research and write software, often aimed at improving or saving the world. I love thinking about artificial intelligence, philosophy, cryptography, and robotics.
As of mid-2025, I work as senior researcher at Palisade Research, trying to think clearly about risks from advanced AI agents, and part-time as acting director at AI Impacts.
In the past I've done research engineering work at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and Redwood Research, built a novel cryptographic database for screening DNA synthesis orders for biological hazards at SecureDNA, and helped build the on-car planning and prediction software for Cruise Automation's self-driving cars.
I'm originally from Blacksburg, Virginia, and lived there through my undergraduate degree, which was in Computer Engineering. In Blacksburg I spent an unusual amount of time in Bollo's Cafe and Bakery, and helped to start Hacksburg, Blacksburg's first community hackerspace.
If you have any feedback for me or would like to contact me, you can use my optionally-anonymous (or pseudonymous) contact form here. If you need an email address to send things to, you can also send me email at spam@w-r.me, but I will more reliably read things submitted via the form.