OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has extended an invitation to China to help in the creation of ‘guardrails’ for the AI sector amid growing concerns.
Proponents of AI have acknowledged the sector has the potential to transform the world and the way things are done across various sectors. Some also admit that it has its potential pitfalls.
Calling on China
The instant rise to popularity of AI has sparked the need for regulations for the tools that are coming to market.
Now Altman has called on China to contribute towards creating regulations that will govern AI systems, according to a Bloomberg report.
“With the emergence of the increasingly powerful AI systems, the stakes for global cooperation have never been higher,” Altman said at a Beijing conference where he presented via a video link.
China itself is expected to have a draft of its AI regulations ready for review this year as the country moves to tame the ChatGPT-inspired AI explosion.
Also read: OpenAI Is Still Refraining From Training GPT
Battle between the East and West
Although currently not available in China, ChatGPT’s launch last November created an AI rush across the globe. In China fans skirted restrictions by accessing the AI technology through VPNs.
ChatGPT is restricted in China, as are services from other Western companies including Meta and Google. The result is a battle for tech supremacy between the world’s two largest economies.
The restrictions have not stopped Chinese tech companies from taking on the AI race head-on. China is one of the biggest spenders in technological research and development as the country attempts to preserve its independence from US technology.
China and the US are the two leading nations producing and investing heavily in AI technology. In China more than 75 companies have released their own LLMs since 2020, with its tech giant Baidu investing $145 million into an AI startup fund.
OpenAI has made a similar investment, with more than $175 million made available for AI startup companies.
Growing concerns
With massive investments into AI companies and technology, the market may soon be saturated with these powerful systems. The situation is already causing regulators and industry insiders concern.
The EU has been working towards creating laws that would govern the creation and use of such tools. At the moment it seems they are the closest to coming up with a sound regulatory framework.
While the EU is making headway in coming up with regulations that will govern AI systems, countries like China and the US play catch up.
“China has some of the best AI talent in the world and fundamentally, given the difficulties in solving alignment for advanced AI systems, this requires the best minds from around the world,” Altman told the conference.
His speech formed part of the Asia leg of his global goodwill tour to promote AI governance.
Previously Altman appeared before the Senate. The tech entrepreneur gave evidence on the need for urgent regulation within the AI industry.
Last month, Altman disagreed with EU regulators over its proposed laws to regulate the industry. The regulations seek to hold tech companies responsible for how their systems are used. Altman threatened his company could pull out of the region if the proposed regulations were enacted into law.
The OpenAI CEO also highlighted the company plans to open-source more models in the future, in a bid to improve and push for AI safety. The timeframe for this was not specified.
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