The stakes are high in OpenAI’s shift to for-profit
OpenAI’s reported move to a for-profit organization might push Sam Altman’s plans for more data centers and nuclear energy forward, but it will come at a cost, the tech world worries, leaving no space for OpenAI’s initial top priority: keeping humanity safe.
The OpenAI changes
OpenAI seems to be pushing ahead with plans to become a for-profit company, Reuters reported after the unexpected departure of Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati. The ChatGPT developer is reportedly preparing to change its corporate structure as it seeks $6.5 billion in new funding, a deal that would value the start-up at $150 billion. The Emirates’ technology investment firm, MGX, is among the group of potential investors, which also includes Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and Tiger Global, the New York Times reported.
With this shift, OpenAI will become a for-profit benefit corporation: a business that generates profits while being committed to social and public good. This change would mean OpenAI will no longer be governed by its nonprofit board. What’s more, CEO Sam Altman would also receive a 7 percent stake in the new investment round, worth the equivalent of €9.3 billion.
AI, data centers, and the energy crisis
Earlier this year, Sam Altman spoke at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, arguing that we are heading for an energy crisis due to the use of AI. Artificial intelligence uses far more energy than originally anticipated, and if we want to continue using it at this rate, we will need an energy breakthrough, Altman warned.
AI systems, especially those based on machine learning and deep learning, require enormous amounts of computing power. Training a single large AI model can require thousands of GPUs and server clusters, running continuously to perform complex calculations. This process can take weeks or even months, and consumes enormous amounts of electricity.
The AI world should therefore be focusing on nuclear fusion, Altman believes. This theoretically unlimited source of clean energy, he says, is the key to the future of AI. However, Altman’s motives are questionable: in 2021, he invested $375 million in Helion Energy, a start-up that aims to have a nuclear fusion plant built by 2028.
Additionally, Altman has been pitching a plan to investors in the United Arab Emirates, computer chip makers in Asia and officials in Washington to create the computing power Open AI needs to build more powerful artificial intelligence. The project would be a multi trillion-dollar effort to erect new computer chip factories and data centers across the globe, including in the Middle East, providing a global reservoir of computing power dedicated to building the next generation of AI.
According to the New York Times, Altman compared the world’s data centers to electricity: “As the availability of electricity became more widespread, people found better ways of using it. Mr. Altman hoped to do the same with data centers and eventually make A.I. technologies flow like electricity,” the NY Times said.
The AI stakes are high
The point of OpenAI was to be nonprofit and safety-first. Since its founding in 2015, its leaders have made it clear that their top priority is making sure artificial intelligence is developed safely and beneficially, stating that: “Our primary fiduciary duty is to humanity. We anticipate needing to marshal substantial resources to fulfill our mission, but will always diligently act to minimize conflicts of interest among our employees and stakeholders that could compromise broad benefit.”
With the restructuring in the foreseeable future, the tech world is grappling with the potential implications of its shift in governance. After CTO Mira Murati resigned, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and Research Vice President Barret Zoph also already announced their departure.
Although OpenAI’s focus on safety and ethical considerations was already questionable in the last couple of years, worries that OpenAI will now be solely driven by financial pressures and the drive for profitability are not unfounded. The growing demands for energy, infrastructure, and computing power further complicate the picture, with CEO Sam Altman’s advocacy for nuclear fusion signaling the lengths the company is willing to go to fuel its AI ambitions.
The stakes are high, as the choices OpenAI makes in the coming years could shape the future of artificial intelligence and its impact on society. However, Sam Altman is not the only one with a say: choices made by investors, regulators, and ultimately, the tech users, will be shaping the future just as much.
