Altman Says AI Benefits Justify Some Risks

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said society should accept some harmful effects from artificial intelligence in exchange for its benefits and the ability of people to use the technology, while rejecting risks he considers more severe, including a serious loss of control. In separate interviews, he also said he would work with OpenAI cofounder Elon Musk despite describing him as a bully, and opposed giving one AI laboratory control over the technology. Altman’s comments on AI trade-offs came in an interview discussing the technology’s risks and regulation. He said he would not give up AI’s potential benefits in exchange for guarantees against hacks, scams or misuse, arguing that people could use the technology for much greater good than harm. He distinguished those risks from the possibility of a serious loss of control, which he said society should not accept. He also rejected the idea that one laboratory should control AI and distribute its gains. Altman described that arrangement as an unacceptable trade-off, while saying people should retain agency over the technology. His remarks address a debate over how to regulate advanced AI and who should have access to it.