\t\t\t\t\t11<\/p>\n
In a dramatic week of testimony that has gripped the tech world, X CEO Elon Musk warned a federal courtroom that the pursuit of artificial intelligence without strict safeguards could lead to human extinction.<\/p>\n
During a testimony in court for a case brought against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, Elon Musk on Thursday fired an AI doomsday warning, prompting the judge to cut him off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the stand in an Oakland, California, courtroom, Musk, who owns his own AI firm, warned about the grave consequences that AI can pose to humanity. \u201cI have extreme concerns about AI,\u201d Musk noted, adding that the technology \u201ccould kill us all.\u201d Musk was appearing in a high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI when he compared the current trajectory of AI development to a \u201cTerminator movie\u201d and accused his former partners of betraying their original humanitarian mission in favour of profits.<\/p>\n
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\u200bMusk\u2019s \u2018Existential\u2019 Testimony<\/p>\n
\u200bDuring his cross-examination on Thursday, Musk grew visibly impassioned as he discussed the safety risks of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). \u201cWe are playing with fire,\u201d Musk told the court. \u201cI helped fund this company to ensure that AI would benefit humanity, not to create a private profit machine that takes us toward a digital apocalypse. We don\u2019t want to be in a Terminator movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bThe billionaire entrepreneur, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before leaving in 2018, argued that the transition of the organisation from a non-profit research lab to a \u201ccapped-profit\u201d entity controlled by Microsoft compromised the safety protocols. Musk\u2019s legal team is seeking to force OpenAI to make its technology open-source and to return to its original non-profit roots.<\/p>\n
\u200bOpenAI Strikes Back<\/p>\n
\u200bLawyers for OpenAI and Sam Altman have dismissed Musk\u2019s claims as \u201csour grapes,\u201d suggesting the lawsuit is an attempt by the billionaire to boost his own competing AI firm, xAI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the gruelling cross-examination, OpenAI\u2019s counsel presented internal emails from 2017 suggesting that Musk had once supported the idea of a for-profit pivot. But that, his condition was that he maintained control of the company. This proposal the other founders rejected, lawyers for OpenAI argued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sam Altman, who testified earlier in the week, told the court that the partnership with Microsoft was a \u201cfunctional necessity\u201d for his company to secure the massive computing power required to build safe and capable AI. Altman characterised Musk\u2019s \u201capocalyptic\u201d rhetoric as a distraction from the realities of their agreements.<\/p>\n
\u200bWhat\u2019s the Trial About?<\/p>\n
\u200bThe trial, now entering its second week, has to do with the \u201cFounding Agreement\u201d between Musk and Altman. The document, Musk claimed, existed as a binding contract. OpenAI, however, maintains it was a shared vision rather than a legal mandate. Musk told the jury during the hearing that he was a \u201cfool\u201d to provide funding, believing that ChatGPT was a \u201cnon-profit.\u201d The\u00a0billionaire stated that he made an investment of an estimated $850 billion to the organisation. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles.<\/p>\n
I actually was a fool who gave free funding for them to create a start-up, Musk said. I gave them $38mn of essentially free funding, which they used to create a\u2009\u2026 for-profit company.<\/p>\n
Musk claimed that he was deceived by OpenAI\u2019s \u201cbait and switch\u201d as the company first launched as a nonprofit, then expanded to make profits, becoming a major AI startup globally. Musk\u2019s attorney showed the jury the email communication between Altman and President Greg Brokman, who were both present in the court. Musk received backlash from the employees of OpenAI, prompting him to halt his remarks. He stated that the proposed structure for the company was \u201coff the table,\u201d as he wrote in a September 2017 letter: \u201cGuys, I have had enough,\u201d adding that they must either create something of their own or convert to a non-profit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u200bThe outcome of the trial could fundamentally alter how AI companies are structured and regulated. If Musk prevails, it could force OpenAI to reveal the \u201cblack box\u201d of its proprietary models, such as GPT-4, to the public. If OpenAI wins, it will likely solidify the \u201cclosed\u201d model of AI development that currently dominates the industry.<\/p>\n
\u200bWhat\u2019s Next in Musk-Altman AI Feud?<\/p>\n
\u200bMusk is expected to return to the witness stand for further redirect from his own attorneys. Meanwhile, outside the courthouse, the trial has reignited a debate over AI safety and the ethics of \u201ceffective altruism\u201d versus corporate growth. \u200bAs the legal battle continues this week, critics have expressed concern if OpenAI would be a steward of humanity\u2019s future, or, as Musk claims, a commercial venture would end humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11 In a dramatic week of testimony that has gripped the tech world, X CEO Elon Musk warned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6744,24,3803,3013,580,5340,140,8272,157,370,781,16659,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-24482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-agi","8":"tag-agi","9":"tag-ai","10":"tag-ai-threats","11":"tag-artificial-general-intelligence","12":"tag-chatgpt","13":"tag-court","14":"tag-elon-musk","15":"tag-grok-ai","16":"tag-openai","17":"tag-sam-altman","18":"tag-tech","19":"tag-tech-billionaire","20":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}