The OpenAI Files: Ex-staff claim profit greed betraying AI safety

‘The OpenAI Files’ report, assembling voices of concerned ex-staff, claims the world’s most prominent AI lab is betraying safety for profit.

At the core of it all is a plan to tear up the original rulebook. When OpenAI started, it made a crucial promise: it put a cap on how much money investors could make. It was a legal guarantee that if they succeeded in creating world-changing AI, the vast benefits would flow to humanity, not just a handful of billionaires. Now, that promise is on the verge of being erased, apparently to satisfy investors who want unlimited returns.

For the people who built OpenAI, this pivot away from AI safety feels like a profound betrayal. “The non-profit mission was a promise to do the right thing when the stakes got high,” says former staff member Carroll Wainwright. “Now that the stakes are high, the non-profit structure is being abandoned, which means the promise was ultimately empty.”

Many of these deeply worried voices point to one person: CEO Sam Altman.

The company’s own co-founder, Ilya Sutskever, who worked alongside Altman for years, and since [launched his own startup](https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/news/openai-co-founder-ilya-sutskevers-startup-aims-safe-superintelligence/), came to a chilling conclusion: “I don’t think Sam is the guy who should have the finger on the button for AGI.” He felt Altman was dishonest and created chaos, a terrifying combination for someone potentially in charge of our collective future.

Mira Murati, the former CTO, felt just as uneasy. “I don’t feel comfortable about Sam leading us to AGI.”

This crisis of trust has had real-world consequences. Insiders say the culture at OpenAI has shifted, with the crucial work of AI safety taking a backseat to releasing “shiny products”. Jan Leike, who led the team responsible for long-term safety, said they were “sailing against the wind,” struggling to get the resources they needed to do their vital research.”

Link to the actual “files”: https://www.openaifiles.org/