Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been concerned within the growth of synthetic intelligence for a few years, each at his personal firms and as a former board member of ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Nevertheless, new particulars from biographer Walter Isaacson present that Musk could have courted the AI analysis lab to be absorbed by Tesla earlier than stepping down.
In an excerpt from the biography shared this week by Time, Isaacson says that Musk tried to influence present OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to include the AI firm into Tesla earlier than leaving (by way of Enterprise Insider). In accordance with the account, OpenAI denied Musk’s requests, and Altman quickly grew to become the corporate’s new President and later CEO.
On the time, lengthy earlier than the then-non-profit had debuted ChatGPT, Tesla had additionally been ramping up AI efforts for its neural networks skilled for Autopilot and the Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta, together with different initiatives.
Altman went on to launch a for-profit arm of OpenAI that gained a big funding from Microsoft, which Musk protested on the time as a result of issues over how AI growth could be dealt with. Through the years, Musk has expressed potential risks about different AI programs and generative language fashions like ChatGPT, noting that they may turn out to be politically indoctrinated and pose main dangers to humanity.
Isaacson says that Musk additionally invited Altman to satisfy with him in February of this yr, throughout which Musk reportedly “unleashed a barrage of assaults on OpenAI.” Among the many assaults had been criticisms as to how the corporate might legally shift its unique standing as a non-profit to being funded by donations as a for-profit that will be capable to generate tens of millions of {dollars}.
Upcoming Elon Musk biography from Walter Isaacson nearing completion: report
“He’s a jerk,” Altman stated of Musk in an interview with Kara Swisher after the assembly. “He has a method that isn’t a method that I’d need to have for myself. However I feel he does actually care, and he’s feeling very confused about what the longer term’s going to seem like for humanity.”
On the time of writing, Insider says neither Musk nor Altman’s representatives have responded to requests for remark, which the publication submitted exterior of typical workplace hours.
Earlier this month, Musk was acknowledged on Time’s Listing of the 100 most influential individuals in AI, alongside Altman and different {industry} leaders. He has additionally frequently echoed issues across the expertise, even calling for an industry-wide pause on AI growth in March and warning of a ‘doubtlessly catastrophic final result’ in June.
Different AI-related initiatives underneath Musk’s watch embody the Tesla Optimus robotic and Dojo supercomputer, his mind chip firm Neuralink, and his new firm, xAI, launched earlier this yr.
The mission assertion of xAI is to “perceive the true nature of the universe,” in response to the corporate’s web site.
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