> claiming an association with MIT that was de facto non-existent

Second hit: https://cces.mit.edu/team/lex-fridman/

    > Lex conducts research in AI, human-robot interaction, autonomous vehicles, and machine learning at MIT.

To qualify what “conducts research” means:

> Lex does not teach any for-credit class at MIT, is not listed in the teaching faculty, and his last published research paper was published in 2018. For community outreach, Lex Fridman HAS taught classes in MIT’s IAP program, which are non-credit bearing.

> The most recent documented instance of Lex Fridman teaching an IAP class was in January 2022, when he co-instructed a series of lectures on deep learning, robotics, and AI-specialized computing hardware as part of MIT’s Independent Activities Period, scheduled from January 10 to January 14.

His profile photo btw is in front of an actual lecturer’s chalk board from a class he wasn’t involved with. The chalkboard writing is just an aesthetic. In that picture he was teaching an introductory level powerpoint about AI trends in a one-time, unpaid IAP session. That’s as authentic as it gets