[3] As of 2014[update], Media lab's research groups include neurobiology,[4] biologically inspired fabrication,[5] socially engaging robots,[6] emotive computing,[7] bionics,[8] and hyperinstruments.

[10] The media lab came under scrutiny in 2019 due to its acceptance of donations from convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

This led to the resignation of its director, Joi Ito,[11] and the launch of an "immediate, thorough and independent" investigation into the "extremely serious" and "deeply disturbing allegations about the engagement between individuals at the Media Lab and Jeffrey Epstein" by L. Rafael Reif, the president of MIT.

[12][13] In December 2020, Dava Newman, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and former deputy administrator of NASA under Obama, was named the new director of the MIT Media Lab.

Pattie Maes and Mitchel Resnick were co-heads of the program in media arts and sciences, and the lab's chief knowledge officer was Henry Holtzman.

Other research focus includes machines with common sense, sociable robots, prosthetics, sensor networks, musical devices, city design, and public health.

"Most departments accept grad students based on their prospects for academic success; the media lab attempts to select ones that will best be able to help with some of the ongoing projects.

[31] Also in 2019, a federal court deposition was unsealed in which Virginia Giuffre stated that Epstein's associate directed her to have sex with former media lab professor Marvin Minsky.

[11] L. Rafael Reif, the president of MIT, announced an "immediate, thorough and independent" investigation to be led by an outside law firm into the "extremely serious" allegations.

"[39][40] The Boston Globe reported it had seen emails indicating Bill Gates had donated $2.2 million to the media lab through Epstein.

[41] On March 24, 2018, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited MIT and prompted protests.

[44] Books Some media lab-developed technologies made it into products or public software packages, such as the Lego Mindstorms, LEGO WeDo and the pointing stick in IBM laptop keyboards[citation needed], the Benton hologram used in most credit cards, the Fisher-Price's Symphony Painter,[45] the Nortel Wireless Mesh Network,[46] the NTT Comware Sensetable,[47] the Taito's Karaoke-on-Demand Machine.

[49][50] The MPEG-4 SA project developed at the Media Lab made structured audio a practical reality[51] and the Aspen Movie Map was the precursor to the ideas in Google Street View.

Media Lab Europe, based in Dublin, Ireland, was founded with a similar concept in association with Irish universities and government, and closed in January 2005.

[54] Millions of people have created Scratch projects in a wide variety of settings, including homes, schools, museums, libraries, and community centers.

In January 2005, the lab's chairman emeritus Nicholas Negroponte announced at the World Economic Forum a new research initiative to develop a $100 laptop computer.

A non-profit organization, One Laptop per Child, was created to oversee the actual deployment, MIT did not manufacture or distribute the device.

The Synthetic Neurobiology group created reagents and devices for the analysis of brain circuits are in use by hundreds of biology labs around the world.