Lightning AI Brings on PyTorch Lead to Expand Deep Learning Leadership


  • Mike Ruberry, core PyTorch technical lead, joins Lightning AI as chief engineer of the PyTorch team
  • New hire signals beginning of PyTorch team at the New York-based startup, renewing commitment to core deep learning innovation
  • Team will make it easier and faster to create, maintain, and deploy deep learning models along with introducing new capabilities

NEW YORK, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightning AI today announced the appointment of Mike Ruberry as chief engineer of a new PyTorch team focused on enhancing the relationship between PyTorch and Lightning, as well as helping to shape the direction of PyTorch itself. Ruberry previously worked at Meta as a core technical lead on PyTorch, the machine learning framework first released by Meta (then Facebook) in 2017. “I’m excited to get started,” said Ruberry, “and to continue working closely with my partners at Meta, NVIDIA, and throughout the PyTorch community.”

The growing PyTorch team at Lightning AI will drive the roadmap for how the machine learning startup engages with the PyTorch framework, renewing its commitment to creating a frictionless, developer-first experience.

“If you’re a PyTorch user, you’ve benefited directly from Mike Ruberry’s contributions,” said William Falcon, CEO and founder of Lightning AI. “The PyTorch team at Lightning is a major milestone in our community’s evolution. Mike and I have always been focused on building bridges between Lightning and the core PyTorch framework. Having him on the team will allow us to continue delivering the blend of speed, performance, and usability that our users and community have come to expect.”

“Having a PyTorch core team balanced among many stakeholders is fundamental to our success,” said Soumith Chintala, PyTorch core maintainer. “I'm really happy to see a PyTorch team at Lightning, and I couldn't think of a better person to kick it off than Mike Ruberry.”

Over 46% of PyTorch users also use Lightning (formerly PyTorch Lightning), a library built and maintained by the team at Lightning AI designed to streamline and enhance the developer experience. Since its inception in 2017, PyTorch has been adopted by some of the largest production systems in the world, ranging from core products at Meta to Amazon Search. Building on its widespread adoption, the PyTorch team at Lightning will focus on continuing to improve both PyTorch and Lightning simultaneously, making both of them faster, more extensible, and easier to use.

Says Luca Antiga, Lightning AI’s CTO: “With Mike joining and the PyTorch team at Lightning kicking off, we have the concrete opportunity to help propel PyTorch into the future, and at the same time establish our vision for Lightning as the top choice for developers and AI creators.”

About Lightning AI

Lightning AI is the company reimagining the way AI is built. After creating and releasing PyTorch Lightning in 2019, William Falcon launched Lightning AI to reshape the development of artificial intelligence products for commercial and academic use. Focusing on simplicity, sustainability, modularity, and extensibility, Lightning AI streamlines the lifecycle of machine learning development to expand widespread AI adoption. Its aim is to enable individual and enterprise users to build deployment-ready AI tools without having to hire experts or sink resources into in-house infrastructure.

For more information, visit: https://www.lightning.ai/

Media Contacts:                                
Mike Bilodeau, Lightning AI, mike.bilodeau@lightning.ai  
Jill Reed, Sift Communications for Lightning AI, lightningai@siftpr.com