Did Elon Musk and Sam Altman Undermine DeepMind’s Aspirations for AGI as OpenAI Emerged as a Counterweight to Google?

AGI (artificial general intelligence) is a hot topic among tech leaders, but its definition is rapidly evolving. AI safety researcher Roman Yampolskiy suggests that the company with the most financial resources will ultimately succeed in developing AGI. Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo revealed that DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis initially aimed to achieve AGI quickly using Google’s resources but faced mistrust from industry leaders like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Ilya Sutskever, who feared he could misuse AGI power. This led to the founding of OpenAI as a counterbalance to DeepMind’s centralized control. Kokotajlo noted that leaked emails support these concerns about potential authoritarianism under Hassabis. Moreover, OpenAI has reportedly lost many of its founding members due to safety concerns, with criticism directed at the company for prioritizing rapid advancements in AGI over robust safety protocols. Despite this, OpenAI remains confident in its ability to address alignment and safety challenges.

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