According to a news report, OpenAI chief Sam Altman intends to retain his control of the company and its popular AI chatbot technology and does not want to take the company public anytime soon because it would limit his freedom to make decisions.
“When we develop superintelligence, we’re likely to make some decisions that public market investors would view very strangely,” Altman said at an event in Abu Dhabi.
He said that he does not have equity in OpenAI as he wants to be “non-conflicted.” The Abu Dhabi event is the latest stop on Altman’s world tour across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East to discuss reducing A.I.’s potential harm to society and regulating the technology.
The remarks come three weeks after Altman spoke to the Senate’s A.I. oversight subcommittee about the dangers of A.I. During the discussion he mentioned that government intervention will be critical in the near future. He suggested that the U.S. create licensing and testing requirements for the development of new A.I. models, and that OpenAI partner with the government on creating safety frameworks.
On Tuesday, a group of bipartisan lawmakers planned three summer hearings focused on the dangers of A.I.
While talking about decision-making, Altman said he wants full autonomy from OpenAI shareholders. He also said in Abu Dhabi that “the chance that we have to make a very strange decision someday is nontrivial.” Altman didn’t clarify what a “very strange decision” could look like, but added, “I don’t want to be sued by…public market, Wall Street, etc.”
OpenAI began as a nonprofit, but now operates as a “capped-profit” company. The capped-profit business model lets OpenAI raise external funds with the commitment that the original nonprofit will still benefit.
OpenAI is valued at nearly $30 billion, backed by $10 billion from Microsoft.
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