OpenAI CEO Sam Altman defended the safety of his company’s AI technology amid growing concerns over potential risks and inadequate safeguards for ChatGPT-style AI systems. Altman addressed developers at a Microsoft event in Seattle, where he spoke just as a new controversy emerged over an OpenAI AI voice that closely resembled actress Scarlett Johansson’s.
Altman, who gained global prominence after OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, is facing scrutiny over the safety of the company’s AI, especially after the recent departure of the team responsible for mitigating long-term AI risks. “My biggest piece of advice is this is a special time and take advantage of it,” Altman told developers eager to build new products with OpenAI’s technology. “This is not the time to delay what you’re planning to do or wait for the next thing,” he added.
OpenAI, a close partner of Microsoft, provides the foundational GPT-4 large language model for building AI tools. Microsoft has been actively promoting new AI products and encouraging users to embrace generative AI’s capabilities. “We kind of take for granted” that GPT-4, while “far from perfect…is generally considered robust enough and safe enough for a wide variety of uses,” Altman stated. He emphasized that OpenAI had invested “a huge amount of work” to ensure the safety of its models, likening it to the trust one places in the safety of medicine.
However, questions about OpenAI’s commitment to safety resurfaced after the company dissolved its “superalignment” group, which was dedicated to addressing long-term AI dangers. Team co-leader Jan Leike, in his departure announcement, criticized OpenAI for prioritizing “shiny new products” over safety, expressing concerns about the company’s trajectory. “Over the past few months, my team has been sailing against the wind,” Leike said, highlighting the difficulty of addressing these complex issues.
The controversy was further fueled by actress Scarlett Johansson’s public statement expressing outrage over a voice used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT that sounded similar to her voice from the 2013 film “Her.” The voice, called “Sky,” was featured in the release of OpenAI’s more human-like GPT-4o model. Altman apologized to Johansson, insisting the voice was not based on hers.
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