OpenAI project, non-profit company backed by Elon musk, Sam Altman

25 Feb 2019

OpenAI project envisaged as a non-profit research company, has given been backed by Elon Musk, Sam Altman and others. Prominent names of the tech elite have backed the venture, which focuses on Artificial Intelligence, and will be managed by ex-Google research scientist Ilya Sutskever along with Brockman.

The project aims to achieve artificial intelligence comparable to human level, for benefiting humanity beyond any one company. The OpenAI project would benefit from an initial backing budget of 1 billion dollars. Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen established the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence that focuses on creating AI technolgies, to benefit in the fields of engineering and research.

Not to forget, in autumn 2014, Elon Musk said that development of artificial intelligence is being like summoning the demon. However, he has changed his views on AI when he, himself, involved in OpenAI. He said that the idea is: “if you’re going to summon anything, make sure it’s good.” He said:

“We discussed what is the best thing we can do to ensure the future is good. The goal of OpenAI is really somewhat straightforward, it’s what set of actions can we take that increase the probability of the future being better. We certainly don’t want to have any negative surprises on this front.”
According to Altman, the research is expected to take decades. PayPal founders Musk, Hoffman and Thiel are termed as the PayPal Mafia, and early employees, who went to start a large number of other successful companies. Artificial Intelligence is a controversial subject as it is argued that they could become a threat to humanity. Elon Musk announced that Tesla will start manufacturing self-driving cars in less than two years. Members of the OpenAI project have voiced against the rise of artificial intelligence.

OpenAI is hoping to grow into “a leading research institution which can prioritize a good outcome all over for own self-interest.” An open-source artificial intelligence company could bode well for technological innovations, but its open nature could also be used for threatening activities. However, the venture will take much time to come to the world. Though the backers have dedicated a huge sum, OpenAI said it would spend only a “tiny fraction” of the $1 billion in the next years.

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