Princeton Professor John Hopfield Wins 2024 Nobel Prize In Physics

PRINCETON, NJ - Professor John Hopfield of Princeton University has won the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics. The announcement was made on Tuesday morning.

Hopfield won for his work in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom.

Hopfield will share the prize with Geoffrey E. Hinton of the University of Toronto, also known as the Godfather of AI.

“This year’s two Nobel Laureates in Physics have used tools from physics to develop methods that are the foundation of today’s powerful machine learning,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

“John Hopfield created an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data,” the academy said. “Geoffrey Hinton invented a method that can autonomously find properties in data, and so perform tasks such as identifying specific elements in pictures.”

The prize amount is 11 million Swedish kroner, or around $1 million.

Hopfield is the Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences, Emeritus, and professor of molecular biology, emeritus at Princeton. He holds associated faculty status in physics and neuroscience.

According to Princeton University, Hopfield is currently in England with his wife and had gone out to get the flu shot when the announcement was made.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com