2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering awarded for Modern Machine Learning

The 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) has been awarded to seven engineers—Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, John Hopfield, Yann LeCun, Jensen Huang, Bill Dally, and Fei-Fei Li—in recognition of their seminal contributions to the advancement of Modern Machine Learning, a foundational component driving progress in artificial intelligence (AI).

The collective efforts of these innovators have been pivotal in advancing the three core pillars of Modern Machine Learning: advanced algorithms, high-performance hardware, and high-quality datasets. It is the combination of these interrelated breakthroughs that underpins the widespread adoption and application of AI systems. The seamless integration of these contributions has enabled the development of powerful AI systems that are revolutionising industries, transforming daily life, and reshaping how we live and work—all made possible by the pioneering vision of this year’s laureates.

Modern Machine Learning, which enables systems to learn from data, recognise patterns, and make predictions without explicit programming, has revolutionised AI by allowing models to self-improve with new data. Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, John Hopfield, and Yann LeCun have been instrumental in championing artificial neural networks, which are now the dominant model for machine learning. Their groundbreaking research laid the conceptual foundations for this transformative approach, enabling machines to process and learn from vast amounts of data in ways previously unimaginable.

Jensen Huang and Bill Dally led developments for the hardware that underpins the operation of modern machine learning algorithms. Their vision of utilising Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and their subsequent architectural advances, has been central to scaling machine learning algorithms, making them powerful enough to support today’s AI applications.

Fei-Fei Li recognised the critical need for high-quality datasets to benchmark progress as well as train and evaluate machine learning models effectively. By creating ImageNet, a large-scale image database, she enabled access to millions of labelled images that have become indispensable and instrumental in training and evaluating computer vision algorithms.

The contributions of these seven engineers have laid the foundation for machine learning technologies powering some of the most exciting innovations of our time. From revolutionising healthcare diagnostics to enabling self-driving cars and personalised recommendations, their work highlights the transformative potential of AI in shaping a better future. The 2025 QEPrize honours their ingenuity and vision, recognising their profound impact on engineering and society as a whole.

“Receiving the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is a wonderful honour and recognition of the role engineering plays in advancing society. I hope this award will encourage future innovators to address our world's most pressing challenges including the challenge of making AI safe so that we can all reap its benefits.” - Professor Geoffrey Hinton

"Being curious about the world is the natural state for children. With support and education, this curiosity can develop an engineer or scientist. Add a sense of social purpose, and you have made a civilization.

“It is my joy to be honored with the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering alongside six expert engineers who, like me, try to use facts about our brains to make more powerful computers.

“The facts about the interconnectivity of brain neuroanatomy become the engineer’s structure of artificial neural networks. The synapses which connect a brain cell to others become the adjustable parameters of the programmer. Learning by exploring the environment is replaced by using massive data sets." - Professor John Hopfield

“I am honored to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering alongside esteemed pioneers in the field of AI. Modern AI is built on the foundation of algorithms, data, and hardware. Decades of research on parallel computing and stream processing paved the way for the development of the GPUs that enabled existing algorithms and data sets to achieve super-human results on many applications.

“Over the last decade, advances in GPU performance, efficiency, and networking have powered today’s language and diffusion models, driving innovations that enhance the human experience in many ways. We continue to apply engineering methods to refine AI hardware and software so that AI can empower people to achieve even greater things.” - Dr Bill Dally

“Receiving the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is a wonderful honour and recognition of the role engineering plays in advancing society. I hope this award will encourage future innovators to address our world's most pressing challenges including the challenge of making AI safe so that we can all reap its benefits.” - Professor Geoffrey Hinton

"Being curious about the world is the natural state for children. With support and education, this curiosity can develop an engineer or scientist. Add a sense of social purpose, and you have made a civilization.

“It is my joy to be honored with the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering alongside six expert engineers who, like me, try to use facts about our brains to make more powerful computers.

“The facts about the interconnectivity of brain neuroanatomy become the engineer’s structure of artificial neural networks. The synapses which connect a brain cell to others become the adjustable parameters of the programmer. Learning by exploring the environment is replaced by using massive data sets." - Professor John Hopfield

“Engineers are builders of the future. And engineering is the art and science of turning imagination into reality, solving challenges once thought impossible, and uplifting the human condition. I am deeply honored to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and to be recognized among the pioneers whose work has shaped the world we live in today. This prize has honored the visionaries who gave us the internet, GPS, digital imaging, and wireless technology—breakthroughs that have transformed industries and everyday life.” - Jensen Huang

“I am deeply honored to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, especially in such esteemed company alongside my fellow honorees. My life’s work has been dedicated to the imperative of ensuring the development of the most impactful technology of our generation benefit humanity, and my hope is that this recognition will drive further awareness of the need continue to keep human values at the center of AI’s development among engineers, academic researchers, technologists, policymakers and civil society leaders alike to ensure the best future for our children, our parents, for all of us.

The profound impact of Data will continue to fuel AI’s increasing power and technological capabilities, we’ll be able to use it for more scientific discovery, to make education more personalized, improve health and elder care, empower creators and designers,, and address the realities of our changing planet and climate, to name just a few.” - Dr Fei-Fei Li

"This year, we celebrate the remarkable achievements that these seven engineers have contributed to Modern Machine Learning, a field that has revolutionised Artificial Intelligence by uniting algorithms, hardware, and data. The impact of this innovation is felt across industries, economies, and the planet, showcasing the profound role engineering plays in shaping our future. With admiration for the interdisciplinary approach between these innovators, this year’s laureates are addressing some of the most complex challenges of our time.

“Their work exemplifies the power of collaboration and stands as an inspiration to engineers everywhere. We celebrate their extraordinary contributions and their well-earned recognition as Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Laureates.” – Lord Vallance, Chair, Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation

“This year’s winning innovation is a groundbreaking advancement that impacts everyone, yet the full extent of its underlying engineering remains largely unrecognised, making it an especially exciting choice. While all of this year’s nominees were worthy of recognition, Modern Machine Learning stood out for its growing global interest in understanding its significance. This year’s Prize celebrates the value of transformative breakthroughs and serves as a reminder of the importance of continuous innovation in engineering. We eagerly anticipate future nominations for the 2026 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering that will shape the way we live and define the future. - Professor Dame Lynn Gladden, Chair of Judging Panel, Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering

Now in its twelfth year, the QEPrize has honoured 26 engineers whose innovations have had a significant impact on billions of lives around the world. The 2025 Laureates, who will share the £500,000 prize, were introduced by Lord Vallance, Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, during a reception at the Science Museum in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal, a Royal Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. The 2025 Laureates will be formally honoured at the QEPrize Presentation Ceremony, where they will receive a unique trophy, designed by the 2025 Create the Trophy winner Prerak Bothra, age 24, from India.