OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has expressed a resolute commitment to the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), regardless of the financial cost.
What Happened: Altman, in a recent interview with Stanford eCorner, conveyed his unwavering dedication to the AGI project, regardless of the financial implications.
"Whether we burn $500 million, $5 billion, or $50 billion a year, I don't care."
For context, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), OpenAI's single largest investor, has poured $13 billion into the AI startup.
"I genuinely don't as long as we can stay on a trajectory where eventually we create way more value for society than that and as long as we can figure out a way to pay the bills."
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Altman emphasized that the development of AGI is a costly but worthwhile endeavor. He also mentioned that the subsequent iterations of the GPT model would be significantly more advanced.
Altman acknowledged that the financial requirements for AGI development were unforeseen when OpenAI was founded. However, he stressed that the primary goal was to advance AI research.
Why It Matters: Altman's unwavering commitment to AGI is evident in his previous actions. In February, he praised his team's talent and dedication after the impressive launch of the video generator Sora AI model.
He also invited others interested in contributing to the development of AGI. In the same month, Altman was reportedly seeking approval from the Biden administration for his $7 trillion chipmaking dreams, a project that would revolutionize global AI chip production.
However, in March, xAI founder Elon Musk sued Altman and OpenAI, alleging that they had betrayed the founding principles of the AI startup by refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft.
This development is noteworthy, especially considering the Destiny Tech100 DXYZ fund (NYSE:DXYZ), which focuses on investing in private high-growth tech companies, has fallen by 51.15% in the past month, according to Benzinga Pro.
Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo via Shutterstock