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In a whirlwind November, recent developments in the AI sector highlighted that there is a global race amongst world leaders and private sector organizations to harness the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence. Far from a fad, these events underscored the importance of AI in shaping the future of commerce and governance.
A New Enigma At Bletchley Park: The AI Safety Summit in the UK
The UK hosted the first global summit on AI safety, emphasizing the need for international collaboration to manage AI's potential risks. The summit was held at the historic Bletchley Park, where top British codebreakers cracked Nazi Germany's "Enigma" code. It resulted in the "Bletchley Declaration," signed by 28 countries and the European Union, recognizing the urgent need to ensure AI's safe and responsible development for global benefit. Under-fire UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak described the declaration as a "landmark achievement" and tech giant Elon Musk stated it was “timely”, while King Charles III highlighted the importance of ensuring that AI technology remains safe and secure. Amidst a torrent of political infighting and cabinet reshuffles, Sunak can count this summit as a historic moment, signaling the beginning of a global effort to understand and manage the risks of frontier AI.
AI and the Oval Office: Biden's Executive Order Paves the Path for Safe, Smart Silicon Valley Success
Not to be outdone by their transatlantic neighbors, President Biden rushed to issue a landmark Executive Order just two days before the UK Summit. The Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence was focused on ensuring America's leadership in AI. The order directs sweeping actions to protect Americans from AI's potential risks, including new standards for AI safety and security, protection of privacy, advancement of equity and civil rights, and promotion of innovation and competition. The order also emphasizes the need for international collaboration in managing AI's risks and opportunities, demonstrating the U.S.’ commitment to global leadership in AI.
“You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss”: Sam Altman's Firing and Rehiring at OpenAI
OpenAI experienced a tumultuous week marked by the firing and subsequent re-hiring of Sam Altman as CEO. The battle at the top of OpenAI began when the then board announced it was firing Mr Altman (without forewarning their largest investor Microsoft), saying it had "lost confidence" in his leadership. The announcement reflected a clash of philosophies within OpenAI, with concerns over Altman's commercial ambitions for the company amidst rumors that the OpenAI board warned Project Q* could ‘threaten humanity’. The board’s decision to remove Altman, which led to co-founder Greg Brockman's resignation in protest, sent the star artificial intelligence company into chaos. The news astonished industry watchers and led to staff threatening mass resignations unless Sam was reinstated, while OpenAI appointed Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, as the interim CEO and the firm's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever apologized for the role he had in ousting Altman. On Wednesday, OpenAI said it had agreed to Altman's return to the tech company in principle, and that it would partly reconstitute the board of directors that had dismissed him. As a result, former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former US treasury secretary Larry Summers will join current director Adam D'Angelo.
While start-up skullduggery is par for the course, this episode at OpenAI highlights the complex dynamics within leading AI organizations as they balance commercial objectives with broader ethical considerations and the mission of benefiting humanity with AI.
When asked whether the world should trust him in June this year, Sam Altman responded;
“You shouldn’t. No one person should be trusted here. I don’t have super voting shares. The board can fire me. I think that’s important. [We] think this technology, the benefits, the access to it, the governance of it, belongs to humanity as a whole. If this really works, it’s quite a powerful technology and you should not trust one company and certainly not one person.”
Well the board took their shot, but now they are the ones being replaced instead of Sam. So, I guess we’ll see…
