Our Commitment to Respect, Inclusivity, and Upholding Our Values

Dear NeurIPS Community,

We, the NeurIPS Board and 2024 Organizing Committee, want to reaffirm our commitment to the NeurIPS Code of Conduct and its emphasis on fostering an inclusive,  non-discriminatory, and respectful community. These principles have been at the heart of our efforts since our founding in 1987, and they remain vital to our success today.

This year, an invited speaker, Dr. Rosalind Picard, made remarks during the invited talk that needlessly singled out Chinese scholars and perpetuated harmful stereotypes, in direct violation of our Code of Conduct. We take this matter extremely seriously and do not tolerate discrimination on any basis, including national origin, ethnicity, or race. While we strive to uphold the highest standards of mutual respect across our diverse community, this incident fell short of our core principles, and we take full responsibility for addressing it.

We have communicated our concerns directly to the invited speaker and issued an oral statement regarding this matter at the NeurIPS Town Hall. Moving forward, we plan to clearly communicate our Code of Conduct to our invited speakers and will be discussing further changes to ensure that the values in our Code of Conduct are reflected in all areas of the conference.

Thank you to all who have been speaking up in support of fellow community members and working to ensure that everyone feels welcome and respected at NeurIPS. Together we can make NeurIPS a conference that reflects the best of our collective efforts and aspirations.

– NeurIPS Board and 2024 Organizing Committee