A more diverse coalition is forming to oppose OpenAI's plans to restructure itself into a fully for-profit company.
On Monday, Encode, a youth-led advocacy organization representing young people in dozens of countries, has filed an amicus brief in support of Elon Musk's ongoing litigation to stop OpenAI's corporate transformation. The filing is backed by Nobel laureate Jeffrey Hinton and Turing He is often called the godfather of AI.
“OpenAI was founded as a not-for-profit organization with a clear focus on safety. and has made several safety-related commitments in the charter,” Hinton said in a statement released by Encode along with the summary. “The company receives taxes and other benefits. Many from non-profit status Letting it rip all that when it's inconvenient sends a terrible message to other actors in the ecosystem.”
Hinton Just told the BBC He believes there is a “10 percent to 20 percent” chance that AI will cause human extinction within the next 30 years. Hinton has previously been more modest. The chance is only 10 percent.
OpenAI is currently structured as a for-profit company governed by a not-for-profit board of directors. This places certain limitations on the company's mission and ability to raise money and compensate investors. Official announcement Its intention to restructure itself into a more traditional for-profit organization came last week. Although this change has been expected for some time, and Musk, who co-founded OpenAI filed a federal lawsuit against him to request a preliminary injunction in November.
Encode argued that OpenAI's planned transition from a non-profit to a public benefit corporation in Delaware would In particular, the brief questions whether for-profit companies can deliver on OpenAI's promise to “stop competition.” And start helping” organizations with aligned values that seem close to creating artificial general intelligence before they do so?
“Today, a number of companies are competing to develop and deploy transformative AI. by using the profits within the organization It has an external impact on all of humanity,” Sneha Revanur, president and founder of Encode, said in a statement. “Courts must intervene to ensure that AI development serves the public interest.”
As for OpenAI, there is call to court To reject Musk's lawsuit, claiming he lacks standing and is seeking an unfair competitive advantage for xAI, his own AI startup, OpenAI, has also launched Lots of emails And other messages from Musk include several from the company that say Musk has been advocating for a transition to a for-profit organization since the beginning of 2017.