OpenAI boss says world ‘right to be afraid’ but ‘should trust’ AI firms

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes the public should have more trust in his company and others in the AI industry to act responsibly when it comes to artificial intelligence development, despite growing concerns about potential risks. Speaking at a conference in San Francisco, Altman emphasized that people were justified in their fears, given the rapid advancement of AI capabilities.

He noted, "It doesn't take as much imagination as it used to for us to imagine how this could go wrong," adding that the world is "right to be afraid" of AI. Altman's remarks came amid backlash following a viral post by a former Anthropic researcher warning about the possibility of AI causing human extinction by the end of the decade if left unchecked.

This response has led to increased scrutiny of AI development, prompting Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to call for a slowdown in AI development and greater government regulation. In contrast, many AI leaders have advocated for self-regulation and are working on voluntary safety standards, including Altman, Amodei, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested that AI firms should decide on the release of new versions of the technology, rather than having outside forces manage it, emphasizing that safety is an engineering problem. Despite these views, some industry figures have expressed skepticism about the industry's ability to self-regulate, with concerns that leaving AI entirely to market forces could lead to immense risks.