Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Media Coverage

Yahoo/DPA: AI can sway your opinion, even when you know it’s biased, study shows

Mar 29, 2026A study led by USC Viterbi PhD student Zhivar Sourati in USC Dornsife Professor Morteza Dehghani's lab was cited.

USC News: New USC Institute on Ethics and Trust in Computing hosts inaugural AI summit

Mar 25, 2026Event features leading AI experts from academia and industry.

CNN (Subscription Required): Foreign Influence Campaigns on AI

Mar 15, 2026Research by Luca Luceri and colleagues was featured.

The Daily Mail: Can YOU spot the fake writing?

Mar 15, 2026Research by Computer Science PhD Student Zhivar Sourati warning that widespread use of large language models could “homogenize” how people write and reason, was highlighted.

LA Times: How our AI bots are ignoring their programming

Mar 07, 2026Cliff Neuman was interviewed about the role of AI in hacking.

Forbes: America’s Greatest Innovators

Mar 07, 2026Andrew Viterbi, Paul Mokapetris, Len Adleman, Marian Croak, and Palmer Lucky are some of the individuals featured on this list.

India Today: AI talent race: OpenAI signs Meta’s top researcher

Mar 07, 2026Alumnus Ruoming Pang was featured. The article highlighted his time at USC and expertise in AI, machine learning and research in speech recognition.

GOOD DESIGN: Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall was recognized with a 2025 GOOD DESIGN® award

Feb 18, 2026Building was recognized by Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies in the “Environments” category

KTLA: AI fight scene video goes viral

Feb 18, 2026Swabha Swayamdipta, the Co-Director of the Center for AI in Society and a Prof of Computer Science was interviewed about the status of AI and the advances of a viral deepfake featuring Hollywood celebrities.

Decrypt Media: AI ‘Swarms’ Could Escalate Online Misinformation and Manipulation

Feb 02, 2026Xian “Sean” Ren was interviewed for this story about autonomous AI agents becoming harder to detect online.

YouTube: USC Viterbi and IIT Alumni SoCal Bridge Nations at AI IMPACT Pre-Summit

Jan 22, 2026Watch video: partnership with the Indian Consulate of Los Angeles drives a collaborative, human-centric future for artificial intelligence.

Association of Computing Machinery: Nenad Medvidovic named an ACM Fellow

Jan 22, 2026Medvidovic was recognized for "contributions to the foundations of software architectures and their application to software engineering."

NBC: X reveals where some users are based. It might backfire

Dec 01, 2025Luca Luceri was quoted on research related to coordinated campaigns on social media platforms.

Penn State University: AI tool helps visually impaired users ‘feel’ where objects are in real time

Dec 01, 2025Laurent Itti was mentioned as co-author on a paper introducing NaviSense, a tool to help people who are visually impaired navigate their environments.

USC News: Wide range of application for artificial intelligence is focus of inaugural USC AI Summit

Nov 16, 2025Article features the inaugural AI Summit held at Ginsburg Hall; CAIS Co-Director and ISE Professor Phebe Vayanos was featured.

The Conversation: Child malnutrition in Kenya: AI model can forecast rates six months before they become critical

Oct 19, 2025CAIS Director Bistra Dilkina and Laura Ferguson of Keck School of Medicine contributed a piece describing their research

WSJ: Bot networks are dragging brands into culture wars

Sep 29, 2025Emilio Ferrara was interviewed about the uptick in coordinated bot attacks

Indian Express: USC Viterbi School of Engineering & School of Advanced Computing introduce new UG course in AI

Sep 22, 2025New undergraduate degree in AI was featured.

Spectrum News: More schools letting students major in artificial intelligence

Sep 03, 2025The new SAC undergraduate bachelor's degree in AI was featured along with the Business of AI degree.

Drone Flythrough – USC School of Advanced Computing

Aug 20, 2025To celebrate the launch of the new USC School of Advanced Computing, USC Viterbi partnered with JayByrd Films to create a drone fly through video of the new school at Ginsburg Hall - the first "one take" indoor flight video on the USC campus

Earth.com: AI just designed concrete that could reverse climate damage

Jul 27, 2025Research by Aiichiro Nakano, and Ken-Ichi Nomura was featured.

AI Invest: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Urges Studying Physical Sciences for the Next AI Wave

Jul 20, 2025Research by Aiichiro Nakano and Ken-Ichi Nomura demonstrating how AI help discover new materials, was featured

EDScoop: USC launches Ethics & Trust in Computing Institute

Jul 14, 2025The new collaborative institute that Yan Liu will co-direct, was highlighted last month.

USC News: USC launches Institute on Ethics & Trust in Computing

May 30, 2025Professor Yan Liu to co-direct the Institute in conjunction with Provost Professor John Hawthorne of USC Dornsife.

ACM : Maja Matarić Receives 2024 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award

May 28, 2025Maja Matarić receives the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics for pioneering socially assistive robotics (SAR)

MassRobotics : Maja Matarić Receives MassRobotics Robotics Medal Award

May 22, 2025Maja Matarić, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, receives 3rd Annual MassRobotics Robotics Medal award for her pioneering work in the field of socially assistive robots.

AI Companions Are Redefining Elder Care: 3 Ways They Fight Loneliness, Boost Safety And Scale Support Designing AI with Empathy and Respect for Seniors

May 20, 2025Maja Matarić's research was highlighted for its emphasis on offering seniors "emotional support, companionship and dignity."

Quanta: Improving deep learning with a little help from physics

Apr 28, 2025CS alumna Rose Yu, now a professor at UCSD was featured for her efforts to make AI faster. Her work with Cyrus Shahabi is mentioned.

USC News: At ShowCAIS 2025 symposium, Trojans showcase the benefits of AI for social good

Apr 17, 2025Undergraduate and graduate students from across the university demonstrated how artificial intelligence can have a positive impact on the world.

You are invited to a private screening of Cloudwalkers

Mar 03, 202503.11.2025 - 4pm - Ginsburg Hall

USC Annenberg Media: Meet USC’s Newest Rising Star: Ginsburg Hall

Feb 12, 2025The Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall has taken the internet by storm.

Banana Trees to Fight Wildfires

Jan 23, 2025According to a new study, fire buffers composed of banana trees could slow and calm wildfires and generate profit for residents of fire-prone regions

Silicon Republic: Google claims AI model Genie 2 can generate interactive worlds

Dec 08, 2024Sean Ren was quoted about how AI affects copyright infringement.

ABC7 (no link available): Election Security Concerns

Nov 10, 2024Cliff Neuman was interviewed on election day about cyber attacks, AI and misinformation and how this could affect the election process.

Interesting Engineering/Yahoo News: Researchers develop low-cost system to detect wildfires within seconds of ignition

Nov 10, 2024A paper authored by Xiao Fu, Barath Raghavan, Peter Bereel, Yue Hu and Prashanth Sutrave was highlighted.

CalMatters: California students want careers in AI. Here’s how colleges are meeting that demand

Nov 03, 2024Neno Medvidović was interviewed about a new AI major that the School of Advanced Computing is developing.

CSN Monitor: How AI deepfakes test voter confidence and election integrity

Oct 20, 2024Emilio Ferrara was interviewed about the incredible volume of ai-generated data this election cycle

Andrew Viterbi builds on a lifetime of innovation and giving

Oct 17, 2024Viterbi's $10 million gift boosts USC President Carol Folt's Frontiers of Computing "moonshot" by funding the hiring of new faculty at the intersections of advanced computing and other academic disciplines.

Spectrum News: How a USC student helped build an AI system that helps gage public sentiment towards homelessness

Oct 13, 2024PhD Jaspreet Ranjit and advisor Swabha Swayamdipta were interviewed about their work and the potential for AI to help address societal challenges.

AM Chronicle: Grant to fund 3D-printed high-performance ceramics project

Oct 13, 2024Priya Vashishta and Aiichiro Nakano were mentioned for their involvement in a MURI project on 3D-printed high-performance ceramics.

The Atlantic (subscription required): Shh, ChatGPT. That’s a Secret.

Oct 06, 2024Jonathan Gratch was quoted about our interactions with virtual agents.

MassRobotics: MassRobotics Announces Recipient of 2024 Robotics Medal Recognizing Accomplishments of Women in Robotics

Sep 29, 2024Heather Culbertson received the Rising Star in Robotics Medal for her research on haptics

Out Of Options: The Drugs Don’t Work. Therapy Doesn’t Work. What’s Left?

Sep 26, 2024An NIH-backed collaboration between USC engineers and doctors provides hope for patients with severe depression and other mood disorders.

USC celebrates opening of Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall

Sep 19, 2024The new building is home to the USC School of Advanced Computing and central to USC President Carol Folt's historic Frontiers of Computing "moonshot."

KTLA: USC Researchers Tapping into Surfing to Relieve Chronic Pain

Sep 08, 2024Heather Culbertson and Jason Kutch were interviewed about their project using simulated surfing to address chronic pain

Chronicle of Higher Education: The AI Hiring Spree

Sep 08, 2024Article references USC's Frontiers of Computing and effort to attract new faculty

Wall Street Journal: Colleges Race to Ready Students for the AI Workplace

Aug 11, 2024The joint Business of AI degree with USC Marshall was highlighted along with the ITP AI applications minor.

Association for Computing Machinery: Maja Matarić Receives ACM Athena Lecturer Award

May 22, 2024Maja Matarić receives ACM Athena Lecturer Award for groundbreaking contributions in distributed robotics, multi-robot coordination, and socially assistive robotics

Andrea Hodge and Gaurav Sukhatme Elected 2023 AAAS Fellows

Apr 18, 2024Hodge and Sukhatme join more than 40 USC peers previously inducted to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a distinguished lifetime honor

CBS News: Fung Finds a New Life from “Swim with Mike”

Apr 07, 2024USC Viterbi data science master's student Natalie Fung was interviewed about how she persevered after an accident and how the Swim with Mike scholarship allowed her to attend graduate school.

CNET: Hallucinations: Why AI Makes Stuff Up, and What’s Being Done About It

Apr 07, 2024Professor Swayamdipta explained AI hallucinations and suggested the implementation of standards to address them.

WIRED: 8 Google Employees Invented Modern AI

Mar 31, 2024Alumni Ashish Vaswani and Niki Parmar were highlighted in an article that highlighted the authors of "Attention Is All You Need"

USC Institute for Creative Technologies: The Email Which Changed My Life

Mar 26, 2024An essay from Jacki Morie, one of the founding research scientists of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies from 1999 to 2013.

Scientific American: Scientists Are Putting ChatGPT Brains Inside Robot Bodies

Feb 25, 2024Jesse Thomason of USC Viterbi and PhD student, Ishika Singh, were highlighted for their work to help robots complete real-world tasks.

Sustainability Next: AI Can Reduce Poaching, Help Conservation

Feb 25, 2024Bistra Dilkina was interviewed about her use of AI to predict sea-level rise, protect biodiversity and prevent poaching

Department of Commmerce: Biden-Harris Administration Announces First-Ever Consortium Dedicated to AI Safety

Feb 11, 2024USC was announced as an inaugural member of a new DOC consortium dedicated to AI safety; Yolanda Gil will lead the effort from USC

Economic Times: Using AI tools, we are exploring if linguistic ability can mediate cognitive decline

Feb 11, 2024Shri Narayanan spoke with ET Healthworld about USC health research collaborations in India involving AI tools as well as other opportunities for AI in health

‘A powerhouse director for a powerhouse school’: USC celebrates inauguration of School of Advanced Computing director

Feb 08, 2024Professor Gaurav Sukhatme, “a thoughtful and responsible innovator,” was installed as the inaugural director of the university’s 23rd school during a Wednesday ceremony on the University Park Campus.

USC Launches School of Advanced Computing

Feb 01, 2024Gaurav Sukhatme has been appointed the school's inaugural director for the "school within a school"

NPR: AI has become a tool in climate in search for climate solutions

Jan 07, 2024Yolanda Gil was interviewed about her work with using AI for controlled burns and preventing wildfire.

Hindustan Times: USC Viterbi School of Engineering Unveiled: A conversation with Professor Gaurav Sukhatme

Dec 17, 2023Executive Vice Dean Gaurav Sukhatme was interviewed about the opportunities at USC Viterbi for international students including in AI, robotics and space.

IEEE Spectrum : A Bold New Plan for Preserving Online Privacy and Security

Nov 10, 2023Barath Raghavan, an associate professor in computer science, proposes a plan to take cloud security into our own hands by decoupling our identities from our data.

NPR: New proteins, better batteries: Scientists are using AI to speed up discoveries

Oct 15, 2023Yolanda Gil was interviewed about AI's potential to advance scientific research

USC News: USC selected by Department of Defense for Microelectronics Commons hub

Sep 20, 2023The university will lead one of eight regional innovation hubs funded by the CHIPS and Science Act.

Intel: Swabha Swayamdipta Receives Intel 2023 Rising Star Award

Sep 20, 2023Swabha Swayamdipta, an assistant professor of computer science, is among 15 early-career academic researchers selected by Intel this year.

The Economist: Could AI transform science itself?

Sep 17, 2023Yolanda Gil tells The Economist that cross-disciplinary research will become more common due to AI

LA Times: These family robots can play trivia and act as security. Can they cure loneliness?

Aug 06, 2023Maja Matarić was interviewed about the potential for socially assistive robotics

The Conversation: Emilia Ferrara Explains How To Tame Bias in AI

Jul 26, 2023Computer Science Professor Emilio Ferrara explains why blindly eliminating biases in AI can have unintended consequences. Instead, he says, bias in AI can be controlled to achieve a higher goal: fairness.

Politico: Artificial Intelligence Can’t Work Without Our Data

Jul 07, 2023Barath Raghavan and co-author Bill Schneier suggest an "AI Dividend"

Github ReadMe Project: Coding Accessibility: Disability as Catalyst for Creativity

Jun 28, 2023Computer science student Paul Chiou's research focuses on automatically finding and fixing keyboard accessibility issues in both web and Android apps.

Brainchip: Podcast With USC Professor Gaurav Sukhatme On Innovation In AI, Robotics & Autonomy

Jun 25, 2023Executive Vice Dean Gaurav Sukhatme was interviewed about his career trajectory and the state of the robotics field

Spectrum News : USC invests $1 billion into advancing computing research

Jun 25, 2023Dean Yortsos and PhD student Emily Nguyen were featured about the FOC Initiative, Nguyen discussed her work applying AI towards treatments for ovarian cancer.

New York Times: How Sexist is Hollywood?

Jun 25, 2023The SAIL Lab was mentioned as a collaborator with the Geena Davis Institute to address bias through media intelligence

LA Business Journal: Cyber Crusaders

Jun 25, 2023Cliff Neuman was quoted on network security.

Spectrum News : Robots Deployed to Fight Toxic Alage

May 21, 2023Isabel Rayas and Christopher Denniston were interviewed about their work in the Robotics Embedded Systems Lab

Dot.LA: USC Invests $1 Billion in New Computing School to Teach Ethical AI Use

May 14, 2023Dean Yortsos was interviewed about "Frontiers of Computing" and how “Computer science, data sciences and AI have become essentially an extension of the original fundamentals.”

Wall Street Journal: How AI will change the workplace

May 14, 2023Jon Gratch shared his research on how interacting with an AI changes human behavior

KABC: USC Wants to Prepare Students for the Future of AI

May 14, 2023Cyrus Shahabi was interviewed about how AI can address LA's problems and the Frontiers of Computing Initiative

Forbes: University of Southern California Launches $1 Billion Advanced Computing Initiative

May 07, 2023Forbes highlighted FOC and quoted Dean Yortsos saying “The world needs engineers and computer scientists to solve the grand challenges we face."

USC News: USC launches $1B-plus initiative in advanced computing

May 04, 2023Viterbi to create a School of Advanced Computing and rename the Computer Science Department for benefactor Thomas Lord

NPR: For Earth Day, Faculty Talk Sustainability Research on “Academic Minute”

Apr 21, 2023Research by Bistra Dilkina, Thomas Petersen and Essam Heggy was featured.

American Academy of Arts & Sciences: Maja Matarić Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Apr 19, 2023Expert in socially assistive robotics joins leaders selected from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research, and science

WIRED: ChatGPT Email Scams

Apr 16, 2023Wired published a piece by Barath Raghavan and a colleague

Scientific American: How to Tell If a Photo Is an AI-Generated Fake

Apr 02, 2023Wael Abd Almageed spoke to SA about the state of detection for AI generated images

Los Angeles Business Journal: USC Launches AI Research Center

Mar 26, 2023This article mentions that Bill Swartout will co-lead the new Center on Generative AI.

The Guardian: Venmo users on discovering secrets on the app

Mar 19, 2023A study conducted by experts at USC found that two in five Venmo users publicly revealed sensitive information

Apple Machine Learning Research: Computer Science Student Named 2023 Apple Scholar in AI/ML

Mar 08, 2023Published on March 29th, 2026Last updated on March 29th, 2026

VICE: ChatGPT and Essays

Mar 05, 2023Swabha Swayamdipta discussed the status of large language models.

OfficeChai: The Indian Researchers Whose Work Led To The Creation Of ChatGPT

Feb 27, 2023The article mentions USC Viterbi computer science alumni, Ashish Vaswani and Niki Parmar, are key contributors to the research that led to ChatGPT

ARSTechnica: Twitter ditches free access to data

Feb 12, 2023Kristina Lerman was interviewed about the effects of Twitter API change on scientific research

The Conversation: ChatGPT is great – you’re just using it wrong

Feb 05, 2023 Jonathan May contributed a piece on possible uses of ChatGPT

IEEE Signal Processing Magazine : Signal Processing Comes to the Senses

Feb 01, 2023A haptic texture detection method developed by computer science doctoral student Shihan Lu, advised by Heather Culbertson, is featured in IEEE.

Philadelphia Inquirer: AI tools can create new images, but who is the real artist

Jan 29, 2023 Wael Abd-Almageed commenting on A.I. generated art and other content.

MIT Tech Review : We Could Run Out of Data To Train AI Language Programs

Jan 26, 2023Swabha Swayamdipta, an assistant professor of computer science, discusses ways to overcome data constraints for large language models.

Quanta : The Computer Scientist Who Finds Life Lessons in Games

Jan 25, 2023Quanta interviews Shang-Hua Teng, a USC computer science professor who has twice won the Gödel Prize, a top honor in theoretical computer science, but often explores playful applications, like board games.

Toronto Star: These AI images look just like me.

Jan 15, 2023Wael Abd Almageed was quoted about the future of deepfakes

NBCLA: Does Your Middle-Class Tax Refund Debit Card Have a $0 Balance?

Jan 15, 2023Cybersecurity expert Cliff Neuman was interviewed about how cards might be compromised

LA Times: Is ChatGPT a marvel or a farce?

Dec 11, 2022Jesse Thomason was interviewed about the significance of ChatbotGPT

NPR: Today’s interactive Google Doodle honors Jerry Lawson, a pioneer of modern gaming

Dec 04, 2022The story mentions the USC Games’ Gerald A. Lawson Fund that was set up at USC Games to support the next generation of gamers

Yahoo!: Forget Spotify Wrapped, here’s how to make your own Spotify festival lineup

Dec 04, 2022Computer Science student Anshay Saboo was featured in various outlets after launching his app Instafest, that went viral.

Thomas Lord Department of Computer ScienceMedia Coverage

Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Media Coverage