Musk and Altman founded OpenAI

The Genesis of OpenAI: A Collaborative Venture

The Founding of OpenAI

In 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman, along with other prominent Silicon Valley figures, including Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman, established OpenAI with the ambitious of developing artificial intelligence (AI) to benefit humanity. The organization was conceived as a nonprofit, rooted in the belief that AI should be developed transparently and safely, preventing its control by a select few.

Musk's Views on AI

Musk, a vocal advocate for the cautions advancement of AI, often expressed concerns about its potential risks. He described AI as one of the greatest existential threats facing humanity, emphasizing the importance of ensuring it was developed responsibly. OpenAI's mission was clear: harness AI's potential for good while mitigating its risks. Their December 2015 announcement encapsulated this dual-edged nature of AI, stating. "The potential societal benefits of achieving AI capabilities at par with human cognition are formidable, yet concurrently challenging is the task of comprehending the potential deteriments arising from erroneous construction or application."

Elon Musk's Departure from OpenAI

The Growing Divide

By 2018, the relationship between Musk and OpenAI began to shift. As Tesla's focus on AI grew, concerns arose over potential conflicts of interest. Musk stepped down from OpenAI's board, officially to avoid such conflicts. OpenAI noted in a blog post, "As Tesla's emphasis on AI intensifies, this step will preclude a potential prospective conflict for Elon." Despite his resignation, Musk was expected to continue providing counsel and financial support.

The Financial Withdrawl

However, Musk's departure wasn't entirely amicable. Alongside resigning from the board, he pulled back on a prior commitment to provide additional funding to OpenAI. This withdrawl created significant challenges for the organization. Altman described the situation as a "demanding ordeal" that required him to rearrange his life to ensure OpenAI could secure the necessary funding.

Musk's Attempt to Lead OpenAI and Its Rejection

The Leadership Proposal

In March 2018, Musk attempted to take control of OpenAI, proposing to assume leadership with the aim of accelerating its progress and positioning it as a counterbalance to Google's advancements in AI. However, Altman and the other co-founders rejected Musk's proposal, leading to his decision ot sever financial ties and resign from the board.

Maintaining OpenAI's Vision

This rejection marked a pivotal moment in Musk's relationship with OpenAI. The founders were committed to maintaining a diverse leadership structure and resisted placing the future of OpenAI in the hands of a single indiviudal, regardless of Musk's vision.

Diverging Visions: Musk's Criticism of OpenAI

Post-Departure Criticisms

After his departure, Musk grew increasingly critical of OpenAI. In 2019, he cited differences in vision as the reason for leaving, noting that Tesla and OpenAI were competing for the same talent, and some of OpenAI's intended endeavors didn't align with his perspective. "Considering all these factors collectively, it was judicious to amicably part ways," Musk stated.

Concerns About Transparency

Musk's criticisms extended to OpenAI's transparency and its shift away from the nonprofit, open-source model he initially supported. He questioned OpenAI's safety measures, specifically doubting the capabilities of Dario Amodei, who was leading OpenAI's strategy at the time. Musk's skepticism reflected broader concerns about the potential dangers of AI if not properly managed.

The Evolution of OpenAI and Musk's Continued Critique

The Launch of ChatGPT

The launch of ChatGPT in December 2022 was a significant milestone for OpenAI, but it also intensified Musk's criticisms. He accused OpenAI of straying from its original mission, transforming from a nonprofit, open-source entity into a profit-driven organization largely controlled by Microsoft. Musk lamented this shift, arguing that it contradicted the principles on which OpenAI was founded.

Financial and Ethical Concerns

In a tweet, Musk expressed his frustration, noting that OpenAI's transformation was not what he had envisioned. He questioned the ehtics of turning a nonprofit organization, to which he had contributed around $100 million, into a for-profit entity with a market capitalization of approximately $30 billion.

Sam Altman's Response to Musk's Criticisms

Respectful Disagreement

Despite the public disagreements, Sam Altman has consistently shown respect for Musk's concerns while refuting some of his claims. Altman has acknowledged Musk's deep commitment to AI safety but has pointed out inaccuracies in Musk's characterization of OpenAI's operations. During a recent podcast episode, Altman described Musk as someone who genuinely cares about securing a positive future for artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Mutual Influence and Admiration

Altman has also shared that, despite their differences, he continues to admire Musk and values the insights gained from their interactions. He emphasized that Musk's influence has been significant, particularly in shaping his understanding of what can be achieved in research and development.

The Call for AI Safety and Musk's Own AI Venture

The 2023 AI Development Pause

In 2023, Musk joined over 1,000 other signatories in calling for a temporary halt to the development of advanced AI systems, citing potential risks to humanity. This call for caution was supported by many AI experts and reflected Musk's longstanding concerns about the potential dangers of AI.

The xAI Initiative

However, even as he advocated for a pause in AI development, Musk was working on hid own AI project, xAI. This endeavor represents Musk's continued commitment to advancing AI in a way that aligns with his vision for the future.

Musk and Altman: Public Disagreements and Mutual Respect

The Nature of Their Public Exchanges

The public exchanges between Musk and Altman have been marked by criticism, but mutual respect remains. Altman has frequently noted Musk's influence on his thinking and emphasized their shared concern for AI safety, even if their approaches differ.

A Complex Interplay

The relationship between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has evolved from collaboration to competition, marked by mutual respect and public disagreement. As AI continues to advance, the interplay between these two influential figures will likely shape the trajectory of AI development and its impact on society.

Source

ChatGPT experiences a modest decline of approximately 10% in traffic as its initial novelty subsides

In June, global traffic experienced a decline of 9.7%, accompanied by a 5.7% decrease in unique visitors.

ChatGPT's growth no longer suggests a path towards becoming the most visited website worldwide. Put simply, the OpenAI tech demo site, which achieved remarkable cultural significance, does not pose a risk of surpassing Google in terms of web traffic.

As mentioned in our previous update, ChatGPT's remarkable surge in traffic growth has now reached a point of stabilization, with the current month recording the first decline.

Key Observations

• Preliminary estimates indicate a decline of 9.7% in worldwide desktop and mobile web traffic to the ChatGPT website, chat.openai.com, from May to June. In the United States, the month-over-month decrease was recorded at 10.3%.
• The worldwide unique visitor count for ChatGPT's website witnessed a decrease of 5.7%. Concurrently, there was an 8.5% decline in the average duration of time spent by visitors on the site.
• ChatGPT maintains its position as a more popular destination for global visitors compared to bing.com, Microsoft's search engine, and Character.AI, the second most widely used independent AI chatbot site. Although Character.AI witnessed a 32% decrease in worldwide visits from the previous month, it is noteworthy that its current traffic levels reflect a substantial increase since June 2022, when the company, founded by ex-Google engineers, commenced its operations.

ChatGPT's Phenomenal Surge Levels Off

The robust growth trajectory of ChatGPT came to a halt in June, as the platform observed a discernible decline in both traffic and engagement.

While Chat GPT's worldwide growth garnered significant attention, it's important to note that its expansion within the US market was relatively moderate. However, in June, a decline in traffic within the country was evident.

ChatGPT and Character.AI

Character.AI, an AI chatbot site renowned for its imaginative approach of assigning chatbots the personas of celebrities, historical figures, and fictional entities, witnessed a swift rise in popularity in recent months, largely attributed to the heightened interest in AI chatbots following the widespread recognition of ChatGPT. However, the website experienced a decrease in traffic volume during the month of June.

Time Spent on the Decline

Measuring visitor engagement in terms of the average duration of minutes per visit, ChatGPT is observing a drop in user interaction. While the exact data for June is not yet accessible, the metric had already declined by 8.5% in May.

How does this impact OpenAI's future trajectory?

The sentiments of OpenAI's management regarding the decline in traffic are subject to debate. Originally introduced as a technology demonstration, the ChatGPT website predominantly functions as a loss leader, aimed at generating sales leads for OpenAI. The company offers its technology for integration into third-party applications.

At the same time, the CEO of OpenAI has acknowledged the considerable expenditure required to sustain the predominantly no-cost service, describing it as 'staggering.' External evaluations have approximated the daily cost to be in the vicinity of $700,000.

As a key supporter, Microsoft has integrated OpenAI's GPT-4 algorithm into the chat service provided through the Bing search engine. While Bing operates as a mass-market, ad-supported platform, OpenAI's primary focus is not oriented toward running a similar website. The principal revenue stream for ChatGPT stems from subscriptions sold to users desiring access to the cutting-edge version, such as GPT-4, whereas free users are restricted to an earlier edition. The long-term sustainability of this business model remains uncertain, given that individuals can access GPT-4 at no cost as part of the Bing experience.

Furthermore, OpenAI facilitates API integration, enabling technology companies and corporate enterprises to leverage more adaptable versions of its software. Notably, the developer's website, platform.openai.com, observed a 3.1% upturn in traffic between May and June.

Still, the decline in interest, not only for ChatGPT but also for a key competitor, signals the fading novelty surrounding AI chat. Moving forward, chatbots will need to substantiate their value rather than relying on inherent intrigue.

Important disclosure: The names, brands, trademarks, and registered trademarks mentioned here are the exclusive property of their respective owners.

Source

OpenAI stole massive amounts of personal data to train ChatGPT?

• Legal Action Unveiled: Lawsuit Accuses OpenAI of Unauthorized Acquisition of Personal Data from Millions of Americans for Training ChatGPT.
• Legal Allegations Surface: Lawsuit Claims OpenAI Engaged in Web Crawling to Gather Vast Quantities of Data Without Consent.
• Alarming Allegations: Lawsuit Accuses OpenAI of Collecting and Storing User Chat-Log Data, Even from Third-Party Platforms such as Snapchat and Spotify.

Explosive Lawsuit Claims OpenAI Acquired "Massive Amounts of Personal Data" Illegally for Training ChatGPT.

According to the proposed class-action suit, Sam Altman's company engaged in undisclosed data harvesting practices to train its large language models, allowing its chatbot to simulate human language.

The legal team stated in the 157-page lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, that the defendants deviated from established protocols for the acquisition and utilization of personal information by resorting to theft.

The lawsuit asserts that OpenAI conducted web crawling activities to accumulate extensive datasets, which encompassed substantial quantities of information sourced from social media platforms. According to the claims, OpenAI's proprietary AI corpus, known as WebText2, acquired significant data by scraping Reddit posts and the associated websites they referenced.

According to the lawsuit, the accessed data encompassed a wide range of sensitive information, including private conversations, medical data, details pertaining to children, and essentially every piece of data exchanged on the internet. The lawsuit alleges that this data was obtained without providing notice to the data owners or users, let alone obtaining their permission.

The lawsuit alleges that the actions described amount to the negligent and potentially illegal misappropriation of personal data belonging to millions of Americans who do not utilize AI tools.

OpenAI has yet to respond to Insider's request for comment, which was made outside of regular working hours.

The lawsuit alleges that in addition to scraping the "digital footprints" of the general public, OpenAI also retains and discloses users' personal information, including data provided during the creation of OpenAI accounts, chat logs, and social media information.

The lawsuit alleges that in addition to individuals who directly use ChatGPT, the data also includes information from users of various integrated applications such as Snapchat, Stripe, Spotify, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. As of now, the companies mentioned have not responded to Insider's request for comment.

The lawsuit requests a temporary injunction on the commercial access to and development of OpenAI's products until the implementation of enhanced regulations and safeguards. These measures include granting individuals the option to opt out of data collection and preventing OpenAI's products from exceeding human intelligence and causing harm. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks financial compensation for individuals whose data was used in training the chatbots.

In addition to OpenAI, the lawsuit includes Microsoft, a significant backer of the company, as a defendant.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were intentionally identified by their initials, occupations, and state of residence, as their legal representatives stated that this approach aimed to protect them from intrusive scrutiny and potential backlash.

The popularity of generative AI, capable of producing text, audio, images, and videos, has surged following the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November. Individuals have been leveraging generative AI for personal, professional, and academic pursuits, although apprehensions exist regarding its data access.

In March, Italy implemented a temporary ban on accessing ChatGPT due to privacy concerns. The ban was enacted on the basis that there was no legal justification for the "mass collection and storage of personal data" used in training the algorithms powering ChatGPT. Several companies, such as Amazon and Microsoft, have instructed their employees to refrain from entering confidential information into the chatbot. Additionally, Samsung has imposed a ban on the use of generative AI tools by its staff.

According to the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, AI platforms, while acknowledged for their significant potential to bring about positive change, also pose a "potentially catastrophic risk to humanity.

In addition to concerns regarding its potential to significantly disrupt job markets, AI has been associated with the dissemination of false information and has been exploited for malicious purposes. The creators of OpenAI have expressed the belief that AI could surpass human proficiency in most domains within the next decade, while some critics express apprehension over the technology's existential risks.

The lawsuit contends that we are currently exposed to imminent and unwarranted risks that could undermine the very foundations of our society. These risks are attributed to profit-driven, multibillion-dollar corporations.

The lawsuit alleges that dominant corporations, possessing significant and concentrated technological capabilities, have pursued the rapid deployment of AI technology with little regard for the potentially devastating consequences to humanity. This pursuit is justified in the name of 'technological advancement.'

Source