Before Open AI CEO Sam Altman was fired on Friday, several of the company's researchers wrote a letter warning the board that one of Open AI's new projects could pose a "threat to humanity," sources told Reuters.
The project, which according to the sources is called Q*, will be a breakthrough in the development of so-called AGI, or general artificial intelligence. So far, it is a hypothetical level of artificial intelligence that is said to surpass human intelligence in many economically valuable areas. Developing AGI is one of Open AI's major goals.
Back at the CEO position
According to Reuters' sources, the warnings in the letter were one of several reasons for Altman's dismissal. The board is also said to have been concerned that AI is being commercialized too quickly without understanding the consequences.
When Sam Altman was fired from his position as Open AI's CEO, it only appeared that he had not been "sincere in his communication" with the board. Altman almost immediately landed a new top job at Microsoft.
After that, 700 Open AI employees signed a letter protesting Sam Altman's dismissal, threatening to resign unless the board resigns and Altman returns to his post.
Earlier this week, Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO.
The progress in the development of AGI is partly due to AI's ability to do math.
According to Alexander Norén, it is only a matter of time before AI surpasses humans' ability to do maths. Hear why Chat GPT's math skills can be dangerous to humanity in the clip.