---
title: "Rich Sutton launches Oak Lab to build self-learning AI agents"
url: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/rich-sutton-launches-oak-lab-to-build-self-learning-ai-agents-750e39
source_name: "The Decoder"
source_url: https://the-decoder.com/turing-award-winner-rich-sutton-founds-oak-lab-to-build-ai-agents-that-learn-on-their-own/
published: 2026-07-13T17:15:58.000Z
topics: ["research", "business"]
publisher: "Parallel Quant"
---

# Rich Sutton launches Oak Lab to build self-learning AI agents

*2026-07-13 · Source: [The Decoder](https://the-decoder.com/turing-award-winner-rich-sutton-founds-oak-lab-to-build-ai-agents-that-learn-on-their-own/)*

Turing Award winner and reinforcement-learning pioneer Richard Sutton has founded a new startup, Oak Lab, based in Toronto. Sutton says current deep learning methods are "weak and inefficient" and wants to build AI agents that learn continuously from their environment rather than from static datasets.

**Why it matters:** A leading RL researcher betting on continual learning signals where post-LLM research may head next.

**Topics:** research, business

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Read the original: https://the-decoder.com/turing-award-winner-rich-sutton-founds-oak-lab-to-build-ai-agents-that-learn-on-their-own/
Canonical: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/rich-sutton-launches-oak-lab-to-build-self-learning-ai-agents-750e39
Published by Parallel Quant — https://www.parallelquant.com