By Place Holder
CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman downplayed the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence. He said the technology would catch up with human capabilities sooner than expected. But he characterized its repercussions as less negative than predicted.
Altman spoke at the DealBook conference in New York City. He said OpenAI plans to release increasingly powerful AI models over the next 12 months. He also predicted that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), when a machine can perform almost any intellectual task, could be achieved in the next few years.
“A lot of the safety concerns we and others expressed don’t come at the AGI moment,” he said, adding that the technology would significantly accelerate economic growth.
Altman’s comments are closely tied to OpenAI’s business survival. Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, has pumped more than $13 billion into the startup. Microsoft holds an exclusive license to use OpenAI’s raw AI technologies. But tensions have risen, and the contract between the two companies states that Microsoft would lose this license if OpenAI’s board unilaterally decides it has created AGI.
OpenAI also faces growing competition from rivals, including Elon Musk’s startup xAI. Musk co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit before falling out with Altman. He has since sued the company, accusing it of prioritizing commercial interests over the public good and violating its founding charter.
Altman said he was “tremendously sad” about the rising tensions between the former collaborators. “I grew up with Elon as like a mega hero,” he said.
But he rejected suggestions that Musk could use his relationship with President-elect Trump to harm OpenAI. “I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that it would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon would hurt competitors and advantage his own businesses,” he said.
