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OpenAI CEO threatens to quit EU over new law

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OpenAI’s skepticism is centred on the EU law’s designation of “high risk” AI systems. Altman said that he was worried about the risks stemming from AI…reports Asian Lite News

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has threatened to quit the European Union (EU) if regulators continue with its crucial artificial intelligence (AI) law in its current form.

The law is undergoing revisions and may require large AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-4 to be designated as “high risk”, Time reported.

Speaking on the sidelines of a panel discussion at University College London, Altman said they could “cease operating” in the EU if unable to comply with the new AI legislation.

“Either we’ll be able to solve those requirements or not. If we can comply, we will, and if we can’t, we’ll cease operating. We will try. But there are technical limits to what’s possible,” Altman was quoted as saying. “We’re going to try to comply,” he added.

OpenAI’s skepticism is centred on the EU law’s designation of “high risk” AI systems. Altman said that he was worried about the risks stemming from AI.

For example, AI-generated disinformation could have an impact on the upcoming 2024 US election, he warned. However, social media platforms were more important drivers of disinformation than AI language models.

“You can generate all the disinformation you want with GPT-4, but if it’s not being spread, it’s not going to do much,” he was quoted as saying in the report. Earlier this week, the OpenAI CEO said now is a good time to start thinking about the governance of superintelligence — future AI systems dramatically more capable than even artificial generative intelligence (AGI).

Altman stressed that the world must mitigate the risks of today’s AI technology too, “but superintelligence will require special treatment and coordination”.

Last week, Altman admitted that if generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong, as US senators expressed their fears about AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

Altman, who testified at a hearing in the US Senate in Washington, DC, said that the AI industry needs to be regulated by the government as AI becomes “increasingly powerful”.

OpenAI offers 10 grants worth $100K each to democratise AI

Microsoft-backed ChatGPT developer OpenAI has introduced 10 grants worth $100,000 each for building prototypes of “a democratic process for steering” artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The company said that its goal is to fund experimentation with methods for gathering nuanced feedback from everyone on how AI should behave.

“While these initial experiments are not (at least for now) intended to be binding for decisions, we hope that they explore decision relevant questions and build novel democratic tools that can more directly inform decisions in the future,” the company said in a statement late on Thursday.

The last date to apply for an OpenAI grant is June 24. Grant recipients are expected to implement a prototype, engaging at least 500 participants and will be required to publish a public report on their findings by October 20.

“The primary objective of this grant is to foster innovation in processes — we need improved democratic methods to govern AI behaviour,” OpenAI wrote. “We believe that decisions about how AI behaves should be shaped by diverse perspectives reflecting the public interest.”

AGI should benefit all of humanity and be shaped to be as inclusive as possible, according to OpenAI.

According to recent reports, Sam Altman-run OpenAI has closed a $175 million investment fund focused on empowering other AI startups, with backing from Microsoft and other investors.

OpenAI has already been investing in AI startups for some time.

OpenAI recently closed a more than $300 million share sale at a valuation between $27-$29 billion, according to the reports.

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