These AI Barons Are Ready to Give Away Their Fortunes
A new generation of philanthropists made rich by artificial intelligence are preparing to give away their vast wealth. What should we make of a multi-billion-dollar pinky promise?
In the span of a decade, Silver, a former researcher at Google DeepMind, has made strides in the field of reinforcement learning, leading to the development of AlphaGo, an AI that defeated a human champion in the complex game of Go. In 2023, Silver ventured to start Ineffable Intelligence, a company that raised a staggering $1.1 billion at a $5.1 billion valuation, reportedly the biggest seed round in Europe's history.
Silver has pledged to donate any profits from the sale of his company to charity. This pledge is part of a growing trend of AI founders who are committing their company’s equity to philanthropic causes. If major players like OpenAI and Anthropic go public, the AI industry could see a surge in tech philanthropy. However, this new breed of techno-philanthropists raises questions about the appropriateness of philanthropy as a means of wealth distribution, the responsibility of megadonors in addressing the problems they aim to solve, and the potential for such pledges to justify unethical business practices.
The Founders Pledge, a nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs donate their wealth, has seen its pledged value soar from $400 million in 2023 to $4 billion so far this year, with the AI industry accounting for a third of this total. While some view this trend as a bridge between capitalism and philanthropy, others argue that it exacerbates inequalities and could be used to advance political interests.
Written by urgent.news from Wired's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
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