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According to sources cited by Reuters, an OpenAI crisis has emerged after several researchers wrote a letter to the company’s advisory board warning of a potentially dangerous “powerful discovery” in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) that could pose a threat to humanity. The letter was reportedly composed just days before the return of the company’s CEO, Sam Altman. The primary factors leading up to Altman’s firing were the emergence of the “card” and the AI algorithm developed for ChatGPT. This led to more than 700 OpenAI employees threatening to resign and join Microsoft in solidarity with their esteemed leader before Altman’s triumphant return on Wednesday.
The swift response from major technology companies in order to safeguard their investments suggests the seriousness of the situation. Altman’s dismissal may have been at least partially influenced by the contents of the letter, which expressed concerns about the potential commercialization of AI breakthroughs without fully understanding the ramifications of their use. While a copy of the letter was not available for analysis, it became evident that the employees who wrote it ignored requests for feedback.
OpenAI initially declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. However, they later acknowledged the existence of a project called “Q*” through an internal memo to employees and a letter to management before the events of the weekend. The memo, sent by executive Mira Murati, alerted the team to media reports regarding the project without providing further details on its significance.
Some OpenAI employees believe that the “Q*” project, pronounced as “Q-Star,” represents a significant step forward in the company’s research on artificial general intelligence (AGI). OpenAI defines AGI as systems that surpass human performance in most economically valuable tasks. According to insiders, the new model, thanks to its access to extensive computational resources, has demonstrated the ability to tackle certain mathematical problems. While the model has only been tested on elementary school students’ math calculations, researchers remain optimistic about its future potential.
Mathematics is seen as a crucial frontier in the development of creative AI. As of now, generative AI excels at writing and translating across languages by predicting the next word statistically. However, mastering accounting tasks, which possess only one correct answer, would imply that AI possesses reasoning abilities comparable to humans. Researchers in the field believe this innovation could have implications in various scientific studies.
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) stands apart from calculators, which can only perform a set number of operations. AGI has the ability to generalize, learn, and comprehend.
Although the specific security concerns raised in the letter to the council were not disclosed, it was emphasized that researchers highlighted the potential dangers of AI. There has long been a debate among computer scientists about the possible threat posed by superintelligent machines and whether these machines would choose to destroy humanity if given the opportunity.
Furthermore, researchers also pointed out the existence of an “AI scientists team,” which has been confirmed by multiple sources. This team is reportedly working on optimizing existing AI models to enhance their reasoning capabilities, ultimately leading to scientific advancements.
Altman, as the driving force behind the rapid growth of ChatGPT, successfully attracted investments and computing resources from Microsoft to advance AGI. During a recent demonstration, Altman unveiled numerous new tools and expressed his belief in significant AI advancements on the horizon. In front of the Cooperation Committee at OpenAI, he stated, “Being able to do this is the professional honor of a lifetime… I was able to be in the room when we pushed the veil of ignorance behind us and the frontier of discovery in front of us.” However, OpenAI’s leadership made the surprising decision to fire Altman the following day.
