Photo: Steve Jennings/Getty Images / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
George Hotz — geohot — is one of those rare people who makes you feel genuinely inadequate in the best possible way. At 17 he became the first person to unlock the original iPhone, not for money but basically for the sport of it, and that set the tone for everything that followed. He reverse-engineered the PlayStation 3, survived a very public legal fight with Sony, and then turned around and started comma.ai, building open-source self-driving software in a style that felt more like a hacker's weekend project than a Silicon Valley startup. Whether you think he's a genius or an agitator, the guy has a real gift for picking the most technically guarded locks in the industry and walking right through them. I find his unapologetic anti-establishment attitude either refreshing or exhausting depending on the day, but I can never quite look away.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- George Hotz
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョージ・ホッツ
- Reading
- じょーじ・ほっつ
- Born
- October 2, 1989 (age 36)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Snake
- Origin
- Glen Rock, New Jersey, United States
- Occupation
- blogger / programmer / computer scientist / photographer
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | openpilot | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was George Hotz born?
Born October 2, 1989 (age 36).
Where is George Hotz from?
George Hotz is from Glen Rock, New Jersey, United States.
What does George Hotz do?
George Hotz works as blogger, programmer, computer scientist, photographer.
What is George Hotz known for?
Notable works include openpilot.
Blogger — see all → · Programmer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.