At an event hosted by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked to comment on an open letter circulating on the internet which called on research labs like OpenAI to stop the development of AI systems far more powerful than its predecessor GPT-4. The letter outlined concerns about the potential consequences of future AI development, but has since been met with criticism by many industry experts, many of whom were among the signatories.
Altman confirmed that OpenAI is not currently training GPT-5 and “will not for some time,” responding directly to the debate regarding the implications of advanced AI. This is indicative of OpenAI’s prudence, in accordance with its mission to ensure artificial general intelligence (AGI) is deployed safely and securely, which it has focused on since its foundation in 2015.
OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence research laboratory based in San Francisco, California. Founded by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and other notable figures, the goal of the organization is to advance digital intelligence in such a way that it benefits humanity as a whole. OpenAI applies modern machine learning as well as various coding platforms to research and develop technology that has the potential to shape the future of the A.I industry. This includes research on representations, generative models, reinforcement learning, unsupervised learning, and robotics. Recent research developments have included Robotics (Gym), Language (GPT-3) and Analytics (Reinforcement Learning).
Sam Altman is an American business entrepreneur, investor, and programmer. After his first successful startup, he became a Partner at Y Combinator, which he then went on to be the President of from 2014-2016. In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, focusing on artificial general intelligence and its implications on humanity. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Crisis Text Line, a suicide prevention non-profit organization. Altman’s investments have included the founding of numerous billion-dollar companies, and he is considered to be one of the most influential names in technology, especially in the realm of artificial intelligence.
