ET Conversations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: Rebooting the Future with AI

Gradually and then suddenly, technologies driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are taking hold in major economies. Predictions of the impact of AI range from the Panglossian — an era of rising productivity leading to higher living standards — to the dire, the end of human civilisation. Even if humanity is safe for now, the ranks of white-collar professionals, some experts say, could be decimated by the extensive use of AI. Elon Musk, and many others, have called for the AI revolution to be put on hold till its wider societal impact is assessed.

The launch of ChatGPT — owned by the Sam Altman-helmed OpenAI, a company dedicated to research and deployment of AI — in November 2022 is widely reckoned to be a pivotal moment in the AI revolution. The Economic Times is therefore delighted to host an exclusive evening with Altman — CEO of OpenAI and the unofficial leader of the AI revolution — on June 7 in New Delhi. In conversation with Altman will be Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman of Times Internet.

Also read | OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tells US senators AI regulation is ‘critical’

The discussion will centre around the impact of the technology on businesses, jobs, and society at large.

Listening with rapt attention will be a select audience comprising CEOs and founders from India’s top technology startups, policymakers, and leading business leaders, as we delve into the wider impact of the AI revolution.

Till 2019, Altman spearheaded Silicon Valley’s famed startup incubator Y Combinator, which has backed companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and DoorDash, as its president. Under him, YC as it’s popularly known, expanded beyond its Silicon Valley roots to support startups from India in large numbers. He also launched a late-stage fund YC Continuity to make bigger bets on cutting-edge, next-generation technologies, something Altman is known for.

From AI to nuclear fusion, where he has personally invested $375 million in a company called Helion Energy, Altman has emerged, especially over the past few years, as one the leading entrepreneurs in technology.The large language models used by ChatGPT and GPT-4 have triggered a race in the field of artificial intelligence, amid the wider debate on how to regulate the technology which Altman terms as a “printing press moment”. Urging US lawmakers to regulate AI while testifying before members of a Senate subcommittee, Altman said, “I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong. And we want to be vocal about that…We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening,” he said.

Cofounded by Altman along with tech stalwarts like Musk, Reed Hoffman, among other Silicon Valley leaders, OpenAI describes itself as an AI “research and deployment company” with a mission to ensure “artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity”.

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