Tao Ni (Tony), Ph.D.

About Me. I am an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). I am also affiliated with the KAUST Center of Excellence for Generative AI (GenAI). Before that, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the City University of Hong Kong, where I earned my PhD. I completed my Master's degree from the Australian National University (ANU), and my Bachelor's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).

Research Interests. My research lies in the cross-discipline of cybersecurity and AI, with a primary focus on Building Secure, Reliable and Efficient AI-driven Systems to achieve trustworthy computing and confidential sensing in critical cyber-infrastructures. My current research interests include: (1) AI safety and AI for security (e.g., adversarial/backdoor in DNNs, LLM security and privacy, embodied AI), (2) System Security (e.g., AIoT, eXtended Reality (XR), and robotics security), and (3) Low-power and battery-free IoT in mobile computing.

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