Two of the leading AI companies, DeepMind and OpenAI, have warned of the potential threat posed by advanced artificial intelligence to the future of humanity. In conjunction with the San Francisco-based non-profit organization Centre for AI Safety, the two firms’ CEOs pledged their support to a statement calling for the risks of AI to be taken more seriously by regulators and lawmakers. The statement suggested that mitigating the danger of extinction from AI should be a global priority similar to addressing risks such as pandemics and nuclear war. Signatories included Google executives, the co-founders of AI firm Anthropic and business and academic leaders in the field. The warning is consistent with concerns expressed by tech industry leaders earlier this year calling for a pause on developing new AI systems for six months.
DeepMind is a leading British AI research company owned by Alphabet Inc. It was founded in 2010 by four founders, including current CEO, Demis Hassabis. DeepMind’s core business is advancing AI by teaching machines to learn through experience.
Demis Hassabis is CEO of DeepMind Technologies, a research institution acquired by Google in 2015. A Cambridge graduate, he has a background in game design and programming. Before establishing DeepMind, he co-founded Elixir Studios, which created the BAFTA-nominated video game “Republic: The Revolution. Before that, he was a child prodigy who excelled in playing chess from a young age, becoming the second-highest-rated player in the world for his age group. Hassabis is frequently mentioned as a preeminent AI researcher, leader, and thinker.
