'Godfather of artificial intelligence' Geoffrey Hinton backs Elon Musk's OpenAI legal battle
Briefly

"OpenAI was founded as an explicitly safety-focused non-profit and made a variety of safety related promises in its charter," Hinton said in a statement, emphasizing the original purpose of the organization and its commitments to safety in AI development. He underscored that the transition to profit-oriented practices contradicts those foundational commitments. Hinton's statements reflect concerns about the dilution of safety priorities as OpenAI shifts towards a commercial model.
"It received numerous tax and other benefits from its non-profit status," adds Hinton, critiquing OpenAI's potential pivot to for-profit status. He warns that if OpenAI’s switch is allowed, it sets a troubling precedent for other organizations, potentially undermining trust in entities that operate under non-profit missions. His stance stresses the risks associated with abandoning principles that prioritize human-centered safety in artificial intelligence.
"The restructuring would fundamentally undermine OpenAI's commitment to prioritize public safety," highlights Encode, the advocacy group backing Musk’s lawsuit. This statement reinforces the perspective that OpenAI's foundational values could be compromised if it fully transitions to a profit-driven model, emphasizing the broader implications for ethical governance in the AI sector.
"The nonprofit-controlled structure that OpenAI currently operates under provides essential governance guardrails that would be forfeited if control were transferred to profit-driven priorities," Encode affirmed in its press release. This quote reveals the importance of maintaining a governance framework that aligns with ethical commitments and concerns over the potential loss of accountability in AI development.
Read at New York Post
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