OpenAI, Salesforce Inc. and other tech companies have signed an open letter emphasizing their “collective responsibility” to “maximize the benefits of AI and reduce the risks” to society, the latest effort by the tech industry to call for the responsible creation of artificial intelligence.
IN mail On social media platform X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he was “thrilled by the spirit of this letter,” which was initiated by venture capitalist Ron Conway and his firm SV Angel. Altman said progress in artificial intelligence “will be one of the most important factors in improving people’s quality of life.” Signatories to the letter also included Hugging Face, Scale AI and dozens of other startups and tech companies.
In the year since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched and brought AI to public attention, many in the industry have both championed the technology’s benefits and expressed alarm about its significant risks. In May, AI leaders including Altman signed a letter warning that artificial intelligence could lead to human extinction.
The SV Angel letter compares the impact of artificial intelligence to other innovations such as the printing press, the internal combustion engine, electricity and the Internet. “The balance of its good and bad effects on people will be determined by the actions and care we humans take,” the letter said. “It is our collective responsibility to make choices that maximize the benefits of AI and reduce the risks, both for today and for future generations.” However, the letter does not list specific steps to do this.
The letter arrived a few days after Elon Musk sued OpenAI, a leader in the artificial intelligence market, arguing that the startup violated its founding mission by putting profit above the benefit of humanity. In an internal memo, OpenAI said it “strongly disagrees” with Musk’s lawsuit.