The recent events at OpenAI involving Sam Altman's ousting and reinstatement have highlighted a rift between the board and Altman over the pace of technological development and commercialization.
The conflict revolves around the argument of 'AI safety' and the clash between OpenAI's mission of responsible technological development and the pursuit of profit.
The organizational structure of OpenAI, being a non-profit governed by a board that controls a for-profit company, has set it on a collision course with itself.
The episode reveals that 'AI safety' in Silicon Valley is compromised when economic interests come into play.
The board's charter prioritizes the organization's mission of pursuing the public good over money, but the economic interests of investors have prevailed.
Speculations about the reasons for Altman's ousting include accusations of pursuing additional funding via autocratic Mideast regimes.
The incident shows that the board members of OpenAI, who were supposed to be responsible stewards of AI technology, may not have understood the consequences of their actions.
The failure of corporate AI safety to protect humanity from runaway AI raises doubts about the ability of such groups to oversee super-intelligent technologies.
Source : https://gizmodo.com/ai-safety-openai-sam-altman-ouster-back-microsoft-1851038439
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