This edition of TGIF 2 Minutes took an extra week to write (and may take an extra cup of coffee to read). Admittedly, because the topic of AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is so complex and fast-moving as nearly anything on our planet. Add the white-hot nature of ChatGPT, the AI system owned by OpenAI, which is a private company recently thrust to the front-pages of nearly every major world news source. Is your head spinning? Read on.
AI, or artificial intelligence, is huge. Sitting down recently with the leader of a significant and complex global organization, it was jaw-dropping to learn the attention being paid to the value and potential of artificial intelligence. Whether in the corporate, educational, media, or government realm AI is being analyzed, tested and used. Its use will only continue to grow.
Next comes one of the leading functionalities in the AI space: ChatGPT. Until recently, a good number of people may have thought ChatGPT was mostly a technology used by students to write term papers or by politicians and leaders to whip up articulate speeches. Both are correct – but ChatGPT is so.. much.. more. One of the “more” features is (and there are hundreds of articles explaining) that ChatGPT is powered by something called a “deep neural network”, or DNN, which is “a software architecture… roughly inspired by the structure of the brain”.*+ The power of the human brain, reproduced artificially, reaches far beyond term papers and political speeches – think data-analysis, productivity, healthcare outcomes… the whole gamut.
ChatGPT is owned by the company, OpenAI.
- OpenAI is privately held and was founded by Sam Altman and Elon Musk (Musk left OpenAI in 2018). The company has a complex corporate and board structure, which will be covered shortly.
- The CEO of OpenAI is 38-year-old Sam Altman.
- ChatGPT is currently free but may be “monetized” in the future.
Sam Altman and OpenAI recently dominated the front pages of world news outlets in a major way. Part of the reason stems from Altman over the past year literally globe-trotting, meeting with presidents and prime ministers around the world, discussing the global agenda on AI. There were sources valuing the private OpenAI at over $90 billion, with ChatGPT having been released a year ago.** But the biggest and real reason for the dominating news coverage was because in mid-November the board of OpenAI fired Sam Altman.
If the story and concept of AI and ChatGPT were not already fascinating and mind-blowing enough, the structure of the OpenAI board and its philosophy are mind-boggling. Currently there is a sort of crisis at OpenAI and, to be fair, part of the reason lies in the fact that AI is a force almost beyond nature (see above: parts of AI are based on “deep neural networks”). AI has ramifications beyond the biggest players in global technology and beyond our world’s leaders. Hence, the potential for crisis at the company that created and owns ChatGPT.
In short, there is an amazingly complex – and deep – philosophy upon which the OpenAI board has so far based itself: the concept of EA. No, that is not a typo. EA, or effective altruism, is a thing. Scarily and funnily enough, one of the “leaders” of the EA movement is Sam Bankman-Fried, the now convicted-of-fraud founder of (crypto exchange) FTX. Whew – this is exhausting.
But not to dismiss EA so quickly! Effective altruism, by which the board of OpenAI is heavily influenced, is centered around being not overly focused on making profits. Noble but difficult. Thus, creating philosophical and real conflicts when the product, ChatGPT, lends to $90 billion valuations for OpenAI. The EA movement is an element of the current progress of AI.
Presently, Altman is back in as CEO of OpenAI amidst angst with the board, partly based on his management style and attempts to independently monetize his own industry relationships (doesn’t sound like pure EA).
In summary, OpenAI:
- owns ChatGPT, the AI super-phenomenon.
- is currently a private company
- has a corporate board struggling with the economics of a free product that could be worth billions.
More to come; today’s edition has been best efforts at a short read about a multi-billion-dollar crisis with humanity-changing implications.
*Ben Dickson, PCMag, “What is ChatGPT?”. June 5, 2023.
**Keach Hagey, Deepa Seetharaman, Berber Jin, “Behind The Scenes…”. WSJ.com. Updated Nov, 22, 2023.
+NO editions of TGIF 2 Minutes have been written by ChatGPT nor has ChatGPT been consulted.
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, tax, legal or accounting advice.