Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, called on people to trust artificial intelligence companies more with the responsible management of the technology, as warnings about its risks are mounting.
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During a conference held on Tuesday in San Francisco, Altman said that companies must prove they will make the right decisions, fully understanding the responsibility they bear.
However, he acknowledged that public concern about the possible consequences of artificial intelligence is reasonable, as the capabilities of this technology have expanded in a very short time.
“It no longer takes as much imagination as before to think about how this could go wrong. I think the world is right to be afraid,” Altman stated.
His words came at a time when the AI industry is facing increasingly intense discussions about safety and the necessity of regulation. This was Altman’s first public appearance after a viral post by a former Anthropic researcher, who warned that if developed without limits, artificial intelligence could become an extreme threat to humanity by the end of the decade.
The warning was supported by several industry leaders and experts. The CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, called for the pace of AI development to slow down and for governments to intervene through regulations.
Among the figures who publicly supported this concern were Altman, Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis, and Elon Musk.
Altman argued that self-regulation is a real possibility for artificial intelligence companies. According to him, they can themselves define standards related to technology safety.
“I am very confident in the ability of our company and the industry to do this safely,” he said.
He stressed that safety mechanisms and the alignment of systems with humanity’s interests must develop faster than the new capabilities of AI. If companies cannot ensure this, Altman added, they should slow down development or even stop it.
Meta’s head, Mark Zuckerberg, also spoke in favor of self-regulation. According to him, artificial intelligence laboratories have both the capabilities and the motivation to create safer systems.
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, also stated that the primary responsibility for assessing whether a new version is ready for deployment should belong to the companies.
“We don’t need new laws or regulations,” Huang said, describing safety above all as an engineering problem.
But this approach does not enjoy consensus within the industry. Some of its representatives have opposed the idea that AI companies themselves oversee the development of the technology.
Jack Clark, co-founder and head at Anthropic, told the BBC that a “completely unregulated” industry would lead to taking excessively large risks.
Meanwhile, Patrick Hillman, head of the company Logical Intelligence, questioned the public’s trust in technology companies. He asked that AI firms clearly explain what actions they would be willing to stop if they concluded that their products pose a risk.
Alongside the clashes over regulation, OpenAI and Anthropic have announced that they are considering the possibility of a broader industry agreement on safety standards.
Dario Amodei stated that Anthropic has started discussions with other companies to establish stricter standards and controls regarding the development and use of artificial intelligence.
Chris Lehane, head of OpenAI, said that the company is collaborating with other labs, including Anthropic and Google DeepMind, to draft voluntary standards for the most advanced AI technologies.
This debate is taking place at the same time as the rapid spread of artificial intelligence in the economy, business, and daily life.
