<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0lb9Ld_0wDkMaZi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0lb9Ld_0wDkMaZi00" width="1950" height="1350" >Last week, OpenAI transitioned from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company. The company's original mission was to develop AI for the public good, creating tools accessible to everyone. However, the new move made by company executives, including CEO Sam Altman, has blurred the company's focus on developing tools that can be used for money-making products. The company’s structure changed to better compete with similar firms like Anthropic and Elon Musk's X.ai. These companies are registered as “benefit corporations, a form of for-profits that aim to promote social responsibility and sustainability in addition to making profits.”The definition of a benefit corporation complicates the company’s purpose. Is it more important for the company to make money or to look out for the good of the public? And where does the money the company makes go, into the pocket of the executives or back into the company?OpenAI’s culture has already changed in response to the new structure. Current and former employees have reported that the unveiling of Chat GPT 4.0 was rushed, with safety testing disregarded so announcements of the launch of the new product could happen. Scientists who have been at the firm for years believe that the opportunity for huge cash flows has corrupted the higher-ups. The company's mission is no longer for the greater good but for the greater profit.OpenAI is, and always has been, a private company. Private companies do not have to share their financials or be held accountable to shareholders. However, when a private company goes from a nonprofit to a for-profit organization, it raises eyebrows about the intentions and future of the company. OpenAI is at greater risk for scrutiny because of the product it delivers—a product that is currently a public resource.We have already seen new issues arise with the emergence of artificial intelligence. Most of the scientists working on the products are white men. Eighty percent of AI scientists are men, and less than three percent are people of color. Even when they do their best to remain partial, their biases are implicitly coded into the systems. Media creators have already seen their products being plagiarized and used without their permission. One website has published over twenty articles plagiarized from CNN, the New York Times, and other major outlets. Many jobs have become automated, taking opportunities away from lower-income earners. These issues all existed when OpenAI claimed its main goal was to better society. Who can imagine the issues that will arise when company executives no longer care about how their product affects the public, but how much money they can make from it? Lawmakers must do better to protect communities affected by artificial intelligence, but regulating AI is becoming increasingly difficult. Most recently, Governor Gavin Newsom of California vetoed a law that would put regulations in place for companies creating generative AI. He claimed innovation would be stifled because of these laws and smaller AI companies would have a harder time breaking into the market.While it is important to protect small businesses and promote innovation, there have to be protections in place for products that will soon infiltrate many aspects of our lives. If we are unable to protect disadvantaged communities from the power of AI, there is no telling what could happen.With OpenAI’s move to becoming a for-profit company, creating legislation to regulate its products has become even more important. Lawmakers need to make sure that new technology does not take advantage of the people it is supposed to be benefitting. </div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

OpenAI's For-Profit Pivot: A Threat to Public Interest and Accountability

Last week, OpenAI transitioned from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company. The company's original mission was to develop AI for the public good, creating tools accessible to everyone. However, the new move made by company executives, including CEO Sam Altman, has blurred the company's focus on developing tools that can be used for money-making products.