Teller was born in Cambridge, England and raised in Evanston, Illinois. He is the son of Paul Teller, who was an instructor in the philosophy of science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chantal DeSoto, a buyer and clothing designer for Sears who later became a teacher of gifted children.
Teller holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Stanford University, Masters of Science in symbolic computation (symbolic and heuristic computation), also from Stanford University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in artificial intelligence from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a recipient of the prestigious Hertz fellowship.
He received the nickname "Astro" after high school friends compared his flat-top haircut to AstroTurf, and reportedly had the image of cartoon dog Astro from The Jetsons painted on his car door in college. After working as a teacher at Stanford University, he became a business executive. In May 2001, Teller was featured on National Public Radio"s All Things Considered, discussing how the good economy has shaped the attitudes of 30-year-olds towards their jobs.
He has lectured at the TEDMED Conference (2003 and 2004), South By Southwest (2013), and ideaCity (2004).
In 2008, Teller appeared as a political commentator on the national French television station France24. Since 2010, Teller has been directing Google X laboratories.
Projects at Google X include Google Glass, Google driverless car, Google Contact Lens, and Project Loon. Google X spun its project called Genie out into a stand-alone business in 2012.
Teller is the co-founder and Chairman of BodyMedia, makers of the "BodyMedia Fashion Institute Of Technology", "Bodybugg", and the "Sensewear" armbands (wearable devices that measure sleep, perspiration, motion, and calories burned). He is also co-founder, Director, and former Chief Executive Officer of Cerebellum Capital. Teller is the co-founder and co-host of the Solve for X annual event and internet community.
