OpenAI CEO Sam Altman faced tough questions about trust and AI safety in a primetime interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey that aired recently. The interview, part of Winfrey’s special ‘AI and the Future of US’, put Altman in the hot seat as he attempted to assuage concerns about the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence.
Winfrey didn’t pull any punches, directly asking Altman: “How do we know we can trust you?” The question referenced Altman’s brief ousting from OpenAI in 2023 amid allegations that he had misled the board. “The bottom line for, I think, most people is whether or not you can trust the people who are in charge. And I know you went through a phase where your own board said, ‘We don’t trust you.’ And then you got yourself another board. How do we know we can trust you?,” she said. Altman acknowledged the gravity of the situation, responding, “The bar on this is clearly extremely high.”
He also emphasised OpenAI’s commitment to transparency and open dialogue, stating, “The best thing we can do is to put this technology in the hands of people, talk about what it is capable of, what it’s not, what we think is going to come, what we think might come, give our best advice about how society should decide to use this.”
The CEO went on to highlight the importance of building trust over time and being willing to delay product releases if deemed necessary for safety. However, he admitted, “This technology will be misused, like every other technology before it. And we need to be clear-eyed about that, even though — even though I’m so convinced that the upside will be so tremendous.”
Altman revealed that he communicates with government officials “every few days” to develop safety measures for AI technology. He stressed the need for government involvement in safety testing, comparing it to processes used for aircraft and new medicines. “One of the first things we need to do — and this is now happening — is to get the government to start figuring out how to do safety testing of these systems, like we do for aircraft or new medicines,” Altman explained.
The interview aired on ABC on the same day OpenAI announced its new product, o1, a generative AI model designed to handle complex questions using more human-like reasoning. Further, there have been reports of OpenAI seeking a $150 billion valuation in its next funding round, which could make the AI startup bigger than the likes of Goldman Sachs, Uber and others.
