OpenAI’s Sam Altman talks love, dark AI, regulations, and more

By Kevin Colleran On Jun 9, 2023

Sam Altman, the boyish face of artificial intelligence, spoke on the technology that has people excited and afraid in equal measure at ET Conversations in New Delhi. In a special edition ETtech Morning Dispatch today, we bring you all the highlights from the evening.

Also in the letter:
■ Byju’s plans more job cuts to slash costs
■ Petitioners against Google get relief from Madras HC
■ WhatsApp launches ‘Channels’, roll out in India soon

AI Effect: We’ll get way wealthier and witness a productivity boom

Sam Altman, the 38-year-old chief executive of OpenAI, spoke in a fireside chat with Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman of Times Internet covering a vast range of topics, from their days at Stanford, through the birth of the company that gave the world ChatGPT, to the future of artificial intelligence and the impact of the technology.

Watch the fireside chat here

Edited excerpts:

About OpenAI: We are a company that is trying to figure out how to build AGI (artificial general intelligence) and responsibly deploy that for maximum benefit. On the one hand, this is the most exciting, most promising, coolest thing I think that humanity has built. On the other, there are concerns about the darker aspects of this technology. We want to be a force to help manage those demons.

On ChatGPT in India: India has been a country that has lustily embraced ChatGPT. We heard about a farmer who wasn’t able to access government services, but hooked up to ChatGPT via WhatsApp in some sort of complicated way, and was then able to.

On the deepfake dystopia: There’s a lot of fear about the impact this is going to have on elections, on society, and on the media. But I think that society is going to rise to the occasion. We’ll have techniques like watermarking detectors.

Are robots taking over? I want to be super clear. I don’t think current systems are dangerous. I don’t think GPT-4 poses an existential risk to the world. But people are not good at thinking about exponential growth. And GPT-10 may be an extremely different thing. There’s a 1% chance that we might get this wrong.

Read the full transcript here.

Brightest minds pick Sam Altman’s brain on all things AI

No AI related regulation for smaller startups

In a discussion moderated by ETtech Editor, Samidha Sharma, Sam Altman and OpenAI Policy Researcher Sandhini Agarwal took a range of questions from a highly-engaged audience. The chief executive of OpenAI called it a tremendously exciting time for businesses, dismissing the all-gloom-and-doom narrative on AI.

Watch the full Q&A session here

(L to R) Samidha Sharma, editor, ETtech, Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI, Sandhini Agarwal, policy team, OpenAI

When you propose regulating the industry, it sounds like smaller firms do not have a chance.

We’ve explicitly said there should be no regulation on smaller companies, that it’s important to let the current open source models flourish. The only regulation we’ve called for is on people like us or bigger. I totally get why people are sceptical when they hear someone running one of the bigger companies call for regulation. But we think it’s important.

Five years ago, you said in a blog post that the next opportunity you pick should make everything else you’ve done look like a footnote. For entrepreneurs starting out, what are some such opportunities today?

I think this is the most exciting time to start a company since the dawn of the internet. I think this is going to be bigger than mobile, it might turn out to be bigger than the internet. I hope it does. Which means that anything you do can be huge.

People are saying that AI is a force for centralisation, and that Web 3.0 will take it the other way. Your take?

I think AI will be a force for decentralisation in a very powerful way. I too feared that there was going to be one super intelligence in the sky that we hoped was good and liked us. Now I think we’ll have a bunch of systems that’ll help us be more productive.

Read the full transcript of the session here.

When India Inc looked into the future with ChatSAM

Even before Altman sat down for the conversation, India’s tech, startup, and venture meisters were abuzz, waiting eagerly to listen to the ‘chat behind ChatGPT’.

With the gathered guests lauding Altman for his openness and vision of building a responsible future with AI, it was clear that the fireside chat left several wondering about the pace in which businesses would be disrupted.

Also read | Who is Sam Altman, the man behind the AI revolution?

AI love you: Samir Jain of The Times of India Group asked Altman about love as an algorithm: will AI ever be able to replicate emotions greater than that between mother and child, or man and wife?

“I hope we don’t all fall in love with robots,” Altman replied on behalf of humanity. “That would be deeply depressing. I hope we are all the best versions of ourselves, figure out how to be better. These systems could help make us more present for each other and treat each other better’’.

Indian Inc laps up Sam Altman

Like fire, AI can unleash civilisational progress and havoc. Speaking as one of its fathers, Sam Altman had the nobs of the Indian establishment eating out of his hands, hanging on to his every word on what this shape-shifting animal can do to jobs, to the world, what this means for education, and his involvement in one of the main things that power AI — power (the electrical kind).

Harshil Mathur, cofounder & CEO, Razorpay: “It was inspiring to listen to Sam Altman talk about the future of AI and OpenAI. His honest and transparent take on concerns relating to AI was refreshing and encouraging’’.

Abhay Pandey, general partner, A91 Partners: “While ‘overhyped’ short term capital allocation will make sure that opportunities in AI are captured, it was great to see the global dialogue underway to manage the threats.”

M N Srinivasu, cofounder, Billdesk: “It was fascinating to hear the views of someone who is at the centre of AGI (artificial general intelligence), pioneering such systems. Time will tell whether or not such a transition was brought about in a responsible manner.”

Rakesh Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises: “The time has come for academic institutions to seriously deliberate on curriculum review so as to prepare students for the future of jobs. Responsible innovation is certainly an area that requires focus as we rapidly embrace AI and generative AI’’.

Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs: “It’s great to know that other than AI, nuclear fusion is a big thing on his (Sam Altman’s) mind. In addition to AI, the world also has something to look forward to in the energy domain”.

Apurva Chandra, secretary, Information & Broadcasting: “It was a pleasure to hear about the tremendous possibilities and concerns of AI straight from Sam Altman. AI has the potential to change the world as we know it. We in the government have to work towards ensuring that these changes are beneficial for humanity as a whole, and that disruptions in the short term are minimised.”

Mohit Bhatnagar, MD, Peak XV Partners: “I walked away truly inspired by Sam’s vision of democratising human intelligence and energy to create a better world’’.

The Byju’s bloodbath: more job cuts to slash costs

Petitioners against Google get relief from Madras HC; Byju’s plans more job cuts

In the midst of valuation markdowns and issues around its $1.2 billion loan, beleaguered edtech major Byju’s is planning to lay off more employees in another cost-cutting exercise to streamline its operations.

Marked men: Many of these employees are contractual staff across on-ground sales teams from third-party staffers such as Randstad and Channelplay. Byju’s hires or lets go of these staff members on the basis of seasonality and demand for the business.

Also read | Byju’s and the debt trap haunting Indian tech startups

Trouble unlimited: The saga of layoffs at Byju’s began last year, when the company sacked nearly 2,500 employees in one of the largest ‘rationalisation exercises’ by an Indian startup. Earlier this year, Byju’s dismissed around 1,000 employees, including many in senior strategy, technology, and product roles.

Streak of bad news: The cost correction comes right on the heels of the company skipping a quarterly interest payment of about $40 million earlier this week on a $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB), which is the subject of litigation. Last month, BlackRock, a minority shareholder with less than a 1% stake in Byju’s, wrote down the edtech’s valuation to $8.29 billion.

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Google Billing Policy: Madras HC extends interim relief to startups

On Thursday, the Madras High Court directed Google not to delist any of the companies that have filed petitions against it from the company’s Play Store. The companies had sought relief from the court in their ongoing battle against Google over its billing practices.

At the same time, it also asked the startups to submit a report to Google on the total number of downloads they recorded in June, and directed them to pay a 4% commission to the search giant.

Action, reaction: A while back, Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com, and some other companies had approached the high court challenging Google’s billing policies and seeking to stop the company from kicking them off the Play Store.

On Monday, ET had reported that Unacademy, Kuku FM, TrulyMadly, and QuackQuack had separately moved the Madras High Court against the tech titan. Thereafter, three other companies — Aha, Stage and Kutumb — also sought relief. The court’s orders on Thursday apply to all these firms.