The head of OpenAI, Sam Altman, recently visited several countries and large tech companies across the EU in an effort to advocate for pro-AI regulatory policies. However, Altman has warned that he will take his business to other parts of the world if the EU is not willing to comply with OpenAI’s standards. This is the result of the EU’s AI Act, which categorizes AI into three risk levels. According to Altman, two of OpenAI’s models, ChatGPT and GPT-4, may be classified as high-risk under the current draft of the law. The law was originally intended to combat potential AI abuses, but has since been revised to add new safety checks and risk management for foundational models. Altman has likewise called for regulation that is halfway between the EU and US approach, citing competition and safety concerns.
OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence research laboratory founded by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman in December 2015. It is the for-profit sister organization of the non-profit charity openAI, and is primarily owned by a group of investors including Altman, Josh Hoffman, Reid Hoffman, Peter Theil, and Amazon Web Services. OpenAI focuses on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) software that is safe, flexible, and beneficial to humanity. Some of the company’s notable projects include developing technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning, as well as launching the OpenAI Gym, a platform for reinforcement learning research.
Sam Altman is an American entrepreneur, investor, and computer scientist best known for being the president of Y Combinator. He is also a former co-chairman of OpenAI and serves as the chief executive of the Catalyst board game-making company. Altman has invested in over 400 companies, most of which are in the health, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and consumer markets, and has a particular focus on startups in the United States. Altman is an advocate for AI regulation, and has advocated for flexibility and safety in AI across the EU.
