Our Leadership Team
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Vinaya Sivakumar
CO-PRESIDENT
Hey everyone! I'm a junior studying cognitive science and technology policy. My current interests are the intersection of AI and politics. Previously, I've conducted research on AI economic displacement and transparency landscapes. I have a background in social media regulation and advocacy. In my free time, I love going to concerts, traveling, exploring mom-and-pop restaurants, and hanging out with my friends. I have a low bar for people reaching out!
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Dylan Xu
CO-PRESIDENT
Hi everyone! I'm a fourth-year Berkeley student majoring in CS, and I am co-leading BASIS this year. I focus on technical AI safety with research interests in model organisms, generalization science, and control. In my free time, I love listening to new music, playing guitar, and binge-reading blogs. Feel free to reach out about any questions regarding the club or about how to gain experience in technical AI safety.
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Hajin J. Kim
POLICY PRG CO-LEAD
Hi! I'm Julia, a junior studying economics and cybersecurity with a background in data justice, EdTech, and new media. Let's talk about art!
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Juri Aljohani
INTERNAL MANAGER
Hi, I’m Juri, an EECS junior interested in intelligence, robotics, and how systems are controlled. Within safety, I want to make models more transparent and secure as they scale, while also bridging the gap between technical reality and policy. In my free time, I play squash, read, and love trying new places to eat!
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Bowen Hu
EXTERNAL MANAGER
Bowen Hu is a second-year studying Rhetoric. He is passionate about the intersection of law, business, and AI policy. He is currently researching cross-border intellectual property disputes at Peking University School of Transnational Law, and previously researched moral decision-making at the Haas School of Business. He enjoys reading, playing guitar, taking photos, and exploring the world.
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Katia Bravo
GENERAL EVENTS MANAGER
I got into AI Safety because I have always been a big proponent of the benefits that ethical technology can have on society, especially when it comes to AI in educational technology. I will be leading events that will Berkeley students of different academic disciplines and background to have a more robust understanding of what AI does and can do within their field. In my free time I enjoy thinking about consciousness, cooking on the fly, and creating an optimal outfit spreadsheet :)
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Ali Emre Narin
TECHNICAL DECAL FACILITATOR
Hey, I'm Ali! I am a first-year international student from Turkey studying EECS. I'm really interested in AI safety research. In my free time, I like to read books, listen to music (140k minutes on Spotify last year), play table-tennis, and go to the gym.
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Prakrat Agrawal
TECHNICAL DECAL FACILITATOR
Hi! I’m a junior studying Math and CS. I’m interested in evals, model organisms, AI forecasting, and fieldbuilding. I’m currently doing the Pivotal Fellowship, where I’m working on evaluating coding agents for sabotage propensities. I spend my free time reading books and blogs, hiking, playing ultimate frisbee, spikeball, and board games!`
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Aaron Haowen Zheng
TECHNICAL PRG LEAD
I am a graduating senior student at UC Berkeley studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I enjoy learning about the technical approaches behind maintaining safety and trust at the frontier of technology, whether that be in language model AI or physical AI. In my free time I go to the gym, play piano, hang out with friends, and go hiking!
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Zayd Aslam
AI POLICY FELLOWSHIP DIRECTOR
Zayd Aslam is a Junior at UC Berkeley studying Political Science and Public Policy and a former intern at the Center for AI and Digital Policy. He also does research at the Haas School of Business working with Professor David Evan Harris on AI ethics, AI policy and social media policy. Additionally, he is the co-founder of Myriad Legal Consulting, a non-profit aimed at helping law firms modernize through legal technology. Zayd is also an avid movie and TV show watcher and loves walking his dog on the beach in San Diego.
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Victoria Ruan
AI POLICY FELLOWSHIP DIRECTOR
Hi! I'm Victoria, a second year studying data science and political economy. I am particularly interested in agentic reliability and how we can harness AI for social good. Outside of BASIS, I enjoy figure skating and learning new languages.
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Emily Chang
AI POLICY FELLOWSHIP DIRECTOR
Hi I’m Emily and I’m a junior majoring in English. I’m interested in the intersection of AI, law, and storytelling. In my free time, I love going to concerts, making ceramics, and hosting dinner parties. Come talk to me about AI and law, music, or good food around the Bay!
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Anita Srinivasan
BOARD MEMBER
Anita Srinivasan is an LL.M. candidate at UC Berkeley School of Law. She earned her first law degree from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Prior to Berkeley, Anita practiced law in India for a decade, advising on securities, M&A, fintech, and blockchain regulation. Her current research explores AI governance and the regulation of emerging technologies, with a focus on how legal systems can adapt to increasingly agentic AI applications and decentralized architectures.
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Tzu Kit Chan
ADVISOR
Tzu is an advisor at BASIS where he helps make important decision with the leadership board. Previously, he did operations at Atlas Fellowship, ML Alignment & Theory Scholars Program, and ran EAGxBerkeley 2022 conference. See his work at tzukitchan.com.
Our Alumni
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Aakarsh Bengani
ALUM
Hey, I’m Aakarsh and I’m a senior majoring in Data Science. I am curious about intelligent system behavior and excited to build safe and valuable ML systems. In my free time I like running, playing soccer and tasting spicy food. -

Adam Khoja
ALUM
Hi, I’m a third year undergraduate studying Math and Computer Science. In my free time, I enjoy listening to electronic music, playing chess, and hiking.
Fun Fact: I’ve attended every UC Symphony concert during my time at Cal!
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Reagan Lee
ALUM
Hello! I'm a senior studying Data Science and Econ. In my free time, I enjoy playing chess and poker. I'm interested in mechanistic interpretability and adversarial robustness. Nice to meet you!
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James Zhou
ALUM
James is currently a 3rd year CS major. He enjoys writing, philosophy, and chess. He is interested in all parts of AI safety, but currently very interested in scalable oversight and governance.