- In today’s CEO Daily: Altman spoke about safety as AI doomsday anxiety ramped up.
- The big leadership story: AI leaders voice support for an industry-wide slowdown.
- The markets: Mostly down as investors weigh the AI industry pumping the brakes
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Alyson Shontell, Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief, here.“What is Sam Altman thinking?” That’s been the question on the minds of everyone who follows tech closely, especially this week as AI doomsday anxiety broke through to the mainstream. (The match that lit the flame: an Anthropic researcher’s prediction that AI has a greater than 10% chance of killing all of humanity by 2030.)
I’ve long been fascinated by the brilliant and polarizing OpenAI CEO, and jumped at the chance to interview Altman in person in San Francisco on Friday for my podcast, Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry.
On my agenda to ask Altman: Where AI is today, and can it be built safely in the months and years ahead? In our hour-long sit-down, we discussed how quickly the models are developing, whether or not more powerful AI can be controlled, and what he would do if he realized AI could not be built safely. We also discussed the upcoming IPO, which he said is “ill-timed” given the safety concerns and won’t take place until 2027.
Altman told me no gamble with humanity is OK, and that he’d have no problem standing up to his investors if he needed to pause or stop AI development altogether. He also had thoughts on what’s needed from a regulatory perspective both nationally and internationally, and alluded to a pact he’s making with industry peers to slow down while safety and alignment solutions can catch up to model capabilities.
“We are clearly, today, at a point on the curve with great potential and real risk,” he told me.
Watch or listen to the full interview here. Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at [email protected]
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