Aidan Smith
Aidan Smith is an engineer and co-founder of Flapping Airplanes who previously worked at Neuralink. He was selected for the 2025 Thiel FellowshipThiel FellowshipThe Thiel Fellowship is a two-year grant program started by investor Peter Thiel and run by the Thiel Foundation that funds young people who skip or stop out of college to build new things instead. The program has been criticized by figures in education for encouraging young people to leave college.Open the full entry.
Contents5 sections
Key facts
Early Career
Smith states that he began working as a full-time software engineer at Chess.com at age 16.[1]
His personal biography states that he conducted brain-related machine-learning research and led speech applications at Neuralink.[2]
His GitHub profile also describes building software for Neuralink’s human studies, writing its website, and making games for monkeys.[1]
He attended Georgia Tech. A 2026 Sequoia article states that he worked at Neuralink for three years while in college.[3]
2025Thiel Fellowship
The Thiel Foundation named Smith to its 2025 class of fellows. Its announcement described his project, Innerphases, as developing communication devices designed around people.[4]
January 28, 2026Flapping Airplanes Investment Announcement
On January 28, 2026, Index Ventures announced an investment in Flapping Airplanes, co-founded by Smith, Ben Spector, and Asher Spector. Index said it co-led the investment with GV and Sequoia.[5]
Sequoia’s announcement that day described the lab’s focus as more data-efficient AI.[3]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Flapping Airplanes: Official website: https://flappingairplanes.com/ (opens in a new window).[5]
Neuralink: Official website: https://www.neuralink.com/ (opens in a new window).[2]
Chess.com: Official website: https://www.chess.com/ (opens in a new window).[6]
Thiel Fellowship: Official website: https://thielfellowship.org/ (opens in a new window).[7]
Personal website: https://aidanjs.com/ (opens in a new window).[1]
Public X account: https://x.com/aidanmantine (opens in a new window).[2]
Public LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanjs (opens in a new window).[1]
Public GitHub profile: https://github.com/AidanJSmith (opens in a new window).[2]
Public Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/183749394-aidan-smith (opens in a new window).[2]
Personal Chess.com profile: https://www.chess.com/member/aidan (opens in a new window).[2]
Sources
- AidanJSmith (Aidan Smith) · GitHub (opens in a new window)
- About - Aidan Smith (opens in a new window)
- Partnering With Flapping Airplanes (opens in a new window)
- Thiel Foundation Announces 2025 Class of Thiel Fellows (opens in a new window)
- Taking Flight: Our Investment in Flapping Airplanes (opens in a new window)
- Chess.com - Play Chess Online - Free Games (opens in a new window)
- Thiel Fellowship (opens in a new window)