Mysterious letter about a threat to humanity before Sam Altman's firing from OpenAI

2023-11-24 18:12:10Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Mysterious letter about a threat to humanity before Sam Altman's firing
Sam Altman

Before OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spent four days away from the company, several researchers within the company wrote a letter to the management team warning of a powerful advance in artificial intelligence that they say could be a threat to humanity, two people familiar with the matter said. familiar with the situation to Reuters .

The aforementioned letter and the previously unreported AI algorithm were key events before Altman's ouster as CEO, a prominent representative of generative AI, according to two sources. Before he made his triumphant return late on Tuesday, more than 700 employees threatened to walk out and join supporter Microsoft ( MSFT.O ) in solidarity with the ousted leader.

Sources cited the letter as one factor in a long list of management complaints that led to Altman's firing, including concerns about commercializing advances before realizing the consequences.

Reuters was unable to review a copy of the letter and the people who wrote it did not respond to requests for comment.

When contacted by Reuters, OpenAI, which declined to comment on the situation, acknowledged in an internal message to employees the existence of a project called Q* and a letter to management ahead of the event over the weekend, one of the people said.

An OpenAI representative said the message, sent by longtime CEO Mira Murat, the Albanian who replaced her, informed staff of several media stories but did not comment on their accuracy.


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