OpenAI Executive Jan Leike Resigns, Calls for Stronger AGI Security Measures
Jan Leike, head of compliance at OpenAI and leader of the ‘Superalignment’ team, left that company over concerns about its priorities, which he felt were focused on product development rather than AI security.
Leike publicly announced his resignation on May 17 through a series of posts on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He noted that OpenAI leadership was wrong in choosing key priorities and that they should have placed greater emphasis on security and readiness as AGI development progressed.
Jan Leike’s Security Concerns and Internal Disputes
Leike, who has been working at OpenAI for about three years, pointed out in his posts that the culture and processes regarding artificial intelligence security have been neglected due to the development of “shiny products”. He expressed concerns about the allocation of resources, saying his team needed help obtaining the necessary computing power to conduct important security research.
Leike emphasized OpenAI’s responsibility towards humanity, saying, “Building machines that are smarter than humans is a risky task in itself.”
His resignation almost coincided with the departure of Ilya Sutskever. Sutskever, co-leader of the ‘Superalignment’ team and chief scientist of OpenAI, had already announced his resignation a few days ago. Sutskever’s departure was notable because he co-founded OpenAI and participated in several research projects, including the development of ChatGPT.
Termination of the Superalignment Team
In light of the recent resignations, OpenAI has decided to disband the ‘Super Alignment’ team and its functions will be merged with other research projects at the company. Bloomberg said this decision is a result of internal restructuring that has been ongoing since the management crisis in November 2023, when CEO Sam Altman was temporarily removed and Chairman Greg Brockman lost his chairmanship.
Created to deal with the existential risks brought by advanced AI systems, the ‘Super Alignment’ team was responsible for the development of solutions to control and direct super-intelligent AI. Their work was considered the most important in preparing for the next generation of artificial intelligence models.
Although the team has disbanded, OpenAI has promised that research into long-term AI risks will continue under the direction of John Schulman, who also leads a team developing how to fine-tune AI models after training.
OpenAI’s Current Trajectory and Prospects
The resignations of Leike and Sutskever followed a high-level review of AI security and governance at OpenAI, along with the disbandment of the ‘Superalignment’ team. This is the result of much thought and disagreement, especially after the firing and subsequent rehiring of Sam Altman.
The departures and restructuring suggest that OpenAI may not be committed to security as it continues to develop and release advanced AI models. Recently, OpenAI introduced GPT-4o, a new “multimodal” AI model that can interact with humans in a more natural and almost human-like way. While this success proves OpenAI’s technological capabilities, it also raises ethical issues regarding privacy, emotional manipulation, and cybersecurity risks.
Even though there is a lot of turmoil, OpenAI still remains committed to its main goal of creating AGI safely and for the good of humanity. In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged Leike’s work and emphasized the company’s commitment to AI security.
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