OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, had some big changes in its leadership (领导层) in November. It’s not just drama (戏剧性场面) of one company—it made people worried about the development of the field as a whole.
On Nov 17, OpenAI said on its website that Sam Altman, one of its founders and CEO, would leave. However, many workers didn’t agree with this. More than 700 out of about 770 OpenAI workers signed a letter to ask the company to bring Altman back. In just five days, Altman was back as company CEO again.
OpenAI was started in 2015 by Altman and others as a non-profit (非营利性的) research organization. They didn’t want to be driven by a need to make money. Instead, they wanted to make AI tools that could help everyone. In 2019, OpenAI changed a bit. They made a part of the company start to make money for investors (投资人). But the non-profit part keeps control of the business, even going so far to fire (开除) its top boss.
The different opinions of the board (董事会) members toward AI development might be one reason for the drama. According to The New York Times, the people who fired Altman are more worried about AI and called for more rules to keep it in check. Altman, however, saw the further development of AI as more important.
The OpenAI drama “shows how fragile (脆弱的) the AI ecosystem (生态系统) is right now”, Johann Laux, an expert in the UK, told AP. The ecosystem is about all kinds of things related to AI, such as technologies and regulations (监管). They need to keep up with the fast development of AI.
Also, according to AP, many experts think it should be governments, not big tech companies, to decide on rules for AI. Enza Iannopollo from research company Forrester said to AP that Altman’s return stopped the board from trying to introduce more rules about AI’s ethical (伦理的) problems. The lesson is that companies alone can’t make AI safe for everyone, Iannopollo said.
【小题1】OpenAI was set up in the first place to _______.| A．develop helpful AI tools | B．make big money |
| C．build an AI ecosystem | D．control the AI field |
| A．he called for more rules on AI | B．he paid less attention to the rules on AI |
| C．he was against the development of AI | D．he sided with most investors |
| A．The profit-driven part. | B．The investors. | C．The non-profit part. | D．The government. |
| A．incomplete | B．strong | C．fast-growing | D．standing still |
| A．OpenAI will stop running without Sam Altman. |
| B．Competition is common inside big companies. |
| C．AI safety depends on the joint efforts of many sides. |
| D．Altman’s return will lead OpenAI to an uncertain future. |
