Samuel Altman, CEO of OpenAI, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law May 16, 2023 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee via Getty Images
Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, said the company may cease all operations in the European Union if it cannot comply with future artificial intelligence regulations.
During a stop on what he called his “OpenAI world tour,” Altman spoke at University College London to talk about the company’s developments and was asked about the EU’s proposed AI regulations. CEO explains OpenAI has issues with how regulations are written at this time.
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According to Time, the regulations, which are still being revised, may designate the company’s ChatGPT and GPT-4 as “high risk,” requiring additional safety compliance.
“We can meet the requirements or not. If we can meet, we will, and if we can’t, we will stop operating…,” Altman said. “We’ll try. But there are technical limits to what’s possible.”
Altman explained that he does not believe the law is fundamentally flawed but emphasized that the details are critical. He expressed support for a balanced regulatory approach but recognized the risks of AI, especially for false information generated by AI that has the potential to sway public opinion.
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In this, however, Altman maintains that AI language models are less influenced by the spread of misinformation compared to social media platforms. “You can create all the disinformation you want with GPT-4, but if it’s not spread, it won’t do much,” he added.
Protesting the development of AGI
During his appearance at University College London, Altman was greeted by protesters gathered outside. The group expressed concerns about OpenAI’s role in the future development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), a super intelligent AI system that can surpass human intelligence.
The group held signs that read “Don’t build AGI” and “OpenAI, stop trying to build AGI,” as shared by Twitter user James Vincent. This happened after a statement from OpenAI on the development of artificial general intelligence, the company’s view on the regulation of AI, and what the consequences of the lack of regulation are on humanity.
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“It’s time for the public to step up and say: this is our future and we should have a choice in it,” protester Gideon Futterman told Time. “We can’t let multimillionaires from Silicon Valley with a complicated messiah decide what we want.”
The creation of AGI is a hot topic among experts and ethicists, although it is still considered far from reality.
