Key facts
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the world is right to be afraid of AI.
- Altman expressed trust in AI companies to develop the technology safely.
- A researcher's post claiming AI could kill all humans by decade's end went viral.
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing AI development and government regulation.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated AI firms should manage new technology releases.
- OpenAI and Anthropic are working on industry-wide safety standards.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged on Tuesday that the world has valid reasons to fear artificial intelligence, but urged the public to trust AI companies to develop the technology responsibly. Speaking at a conference in San Francisco, Altman stated that while the rapid advancement of AI capabilities makes it easier to imagine potential downsides, his company and others are committed to doing the right thing.
Altman's remarks followed a viral post from an AI researcher who quit Anthropic, claiming AI could pose an existential threat by the end of the decade if left unchecked. Several AI executives, including Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind and Elon Musk, owner of X, reportedly agreed with the assessment. In response to the growing concerns, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in AI development and for governments to regulate the industry.
However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose company is a major supplier of AI chips, suggested that AI firms should be the ones to decide whether to release new technology versions, rather than being managed by external forces. He argued that safety is an engineering problem and that companies should pause development if they lack confidence in their product's control.
Some industry figures, like Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, have expressed skepticism about self-regulation, likening it to "rolling dice with immense risks." OpenAI executive Chris Lehane indicated that his company is collaborating with other AI labs, including Anthropic and Google DeepMind, to establish voluntary frontier AI standards, emphasizing the need for progress even without government support.