Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI” criticized OpenAI for moving away from its non-profit origins, as the tech giant is on the verge of getting declared as a “for profit” entity. Hinton, a British-Canadian computer scientist, known for his pioneering work on ‘artificial neural networks’, and was also the winner of last year’s Nobel prize for physics, had some harsh words reserved for OpenAI.
“OpenAI was founded as an explicitly safety-focused non-profit and made various safety-related promises in its charter. It received numerous tax benefits and other advantages from its non-profit status,” said Hinton, as reported in The Indian Express.
Initially founded as a “not for profit” organization, OpenAI plans to fully transition to a for-profit company, which has faced growing opposition from a diverse coalition of organizations and individuals.
As a computer scientist, Hinton had worked at Google but resigned in May 2023 to freely discuss the dangers of AI. His comments on OpenAI were included in a statement that accompanied an amicus brief by Encode, a youth-led non-profit organization, in support of Elon Musk’s lawsuit, which seeks a ban to prevent OpenAI from continuing its for-profit transition.
“Today, a handful of companies are racing to develop and deploy transformative AI, incorporating the profits and not focusing on the importance of all humanity. The courts must intervene to ensure that AI development serves the public interest,” stated Hinton.
Currently, the non-profit entity known as OpenAI Inc. controls a holding company called OpenAI GP. Together, these two entities oversee a capped-profit subsidiary named OpenAI Global LLC, which was established in 2019 to license the AI tools it has developed.
OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model is encountering legal challenges. In November of last year, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against the organization, seeking to halt its transition to for-profit status. Musk claims that OpenAI is abandoning its original mission of philanthropy. Also, Meta has voiced its actions to OpenAI’s for-profit transition in a recent letter which is addressed to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Also Read: Sundar Pichai shares concern ChatGPT may become AI’s Google
