ChatGPT creator heads to White House to discuss AI dangers

Meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris will also be attended by chief executives from Google, Microsoft and Anthropic

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, pictured at a conference in Idaho on 6 July, 2022, will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris and other government officials at the White House on 4 May, 2023 (Getty Images)

The head of OpenAI will join chief executives from major tech firms in a meeting at the White House on Thursday to discuss issues relating to the dangers posed by advanced artificial intelligence.

Sam Altman, whose firm created the hugely popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as other high-ranking government officials. Also present will be the chief executives of Google, Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic.

The invitation to the CEOs noted President Joe Biden’s “expectation that companies like yours must make sure their products are safe before making them available to the public.”

Concerns about fast-growing AI technology include privacy violations, bias and worries it could proliferate scams and misinformation.

In April, President Biden said it remains to be seen whether AI is dangerous but underscored that technology companies had a responsibility to ensure their products were safe. Social media had already illustrated the harm that powerful technologies can do without the right safeguards, he said.

The administration has also been seeking public comments on proposed accountability measures for AI systems, as concerns grow about its impact on national security and education.

On Monday, deputies from the White House Domestic Policy Council and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wrote in a blog post about how the technology can pose a serious risk to workers.

The Thursday meeting will be attended by President Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo among others, said the White House official who did not wish to be named.

The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ChatGPT, an AI program that recently grabbed the public’s attention for its ability to write answers quickly to a wide range of queries, in particular has attracted US lawmakers’ attention as it has grown to be the fastest-growing consumer application in history with more than 100 million monthly active users.

“I think we should be cautious with AI, and I think there should be some government oversight because it is a danger to the public,” Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said last month in a television interview.

Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “godfather of AI”, also issued a warning this week after quitting Google following more than a decade with the US tech giant.

“I don’t think [tech firms] should scale [AI] up more until they have understood whether they can control it,” he said.

Additional reporting from agencies.