Could he be the next Steve Jobs? At 16, Toby Brown has come up with an invention he hopes will revolutionise computing — and is heading to Silicon Valley to pursue his dream.
GCSE student gets $1m for AI start-up
Could he be the next Steve Jobs? At 16, Toby Brown has come up with an invention he hopes will revolutionise computing - and is heading to Silicon Valley to pursue his dream.
Toby Brown's bedroom is like any other teenager's... or perhaps not. For one thing, it is immaculately tidy. For another, it is a shrine to AppleA type of fruit - or the world's largest technology company, based in California. and its founder Steve JobsAn American business and investor known for co-founding Apple. He died in 2011 aged 56. . The objects on display include a Macintosh computer dating from 2001 - "It does work: it just takes 10 minutes to boot up" - and one of the first users' guides, bought on eBay for 50p.
But Toby will not be sleeping in the room for much longer. He is about to move to California so that he can devote himself to his latest project, Beem, with $1m (£800,000) in backing from Silicon ValleyA global centre of technological innovation in Northern California. It is home to many start-up and global technology companies including Apple, Facebook and Google. investorsA person who puts money into something in order to one day receive more money and make a profit. . To do this he is delaying his GCSEsNational exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. until next year.
Beem is a new operating system powered by AIA computer programme that has been designed to think. . Toby's website invites you to imagine a computer that "knows the perfect hotel for the group trip... invites the right friends to the party... plays the album you like doing your laundry to at the right time... is built for you, not you and 8 billion other people".
Beem, Toby says, will "handle the horrible grunt work that everyone's used to on their computers... so say I get an email from you and you're asking for a file. It will read that email, it'll understand and it'll bring that file to me, rather than me having to go through my file system and look for it".1
Toby has always enjoyed taking things apart - "generally through brute force" - and seeing if he can make them better: "I'm always thinking, 'How can I simplify things? How can I make this faster?' It makes day-to-day life kind of impossible, because I'm like, 'This isn't the best way to be doing this.'"
He learnt to code and built his own website when he was seven. At 12 he launched a tool called Aretave "to allow anyone to build their own website, without any code".
At 13 he joined Hack Club, an international group of teenagers who collaborate to make things with code. With other members he built the SineRider bot, which tweets a new mathematical graph puzzle every day.
After "tinkering" with generative AI models such as ChatGPTAn Artificial Intelligence chatbot released in November 2022. , Toby started Beem last year. He says he hopes it will become "so ubiquitousEverywhere. that if you could talk about it with your grandma, she'd know what you were talking about."
Beem could make Toby extremely rich, But, he says, "I'm just happy I found the thing that I'm interested in - the thing that I want to create".
Could he be the next Steve Jobs?
Yes: Like Steve Jobs he has got a simple idea with world-changing potential and is not daunted by anything. Now that he has the investment he needs there should be no stopping him.
No: The Macintosh computer and iPhone which Steve Jobs gave the world are once-in-a-lifetime inventions. Nothing Toby comes up with could revolutionise computing to the same extent.
Or... Steve Jobs is not a good role model, because he was widely regarded as a bully. To be truly great, it is not enough just to succeed - you have to achieve your success in a civilised way.
Apple - A type of fruit - or the world's largest technology company, based in California.
Steve Jobs - An American business and investor known for co-founding Apple. He died in 2011 aged 56.
Silicon Valley - A global centre of technological innovation in Northern California. It is home to many start-up and global technology companies including Apple, Facebook and Google.
Investors - A person who puts money into something in order to one day receive more money and make a profit.
GCSEs - National exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think.
ChatGPT - An Artificial Intelligence chatbot released in November 2022.
Ubiquitous - Everywhere.
GCSE student gets $1m for AI start-up

Glossary
Apple - A type of fruit — or the world's largest technology company, based in California.
Steve Jobs - An American business and investor known for co-founding Apple. He died in 2011 aged 56.
Silicon Valley - A global centre of technological innovation in Northern California. It is home to many start-up and global technology companies including Apple, Facebook and Google.
Investors - A person who puts money into something in order to one day receive more money and make a profit.
GCSEs - National exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think.
ChatGPT - An Artificial Intelligence chatbot released in November 2022.
Ubiquitous - Everywhere.