‘I’m Particularly Proud That One of My Students Fired Sam Altman,’ Says Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist and AI Pioneer Geoffrey Hinton

  • Hinton, a co-winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, recently praised Altman’s dismissal from OpenAI nearly a year ago.

  • His remarks criticize OpenAI’s shift toward profitability and its reduced focus on safety.

Geoffrey Hinton, one of two winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in machine learning, took a jab at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during his first public appearance after receiving the award.

“I’m particularly proud that one of my students fired Sam Altman,” Hinton said, referring to OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who completed his Ph.D. under Hinton’s supervision at the University of Toronto.

Hinton and Sutskever collaborated in 2012 to develop AlexNet, a groundbreaking neural network for image recognition at that time.

Why it matters. This statement revives the significant divide within the AI community regarding the focus on development versus ethical priorities.

  • Hinton criticizes OpenAI’s shift away from altruism in favor of profitability under Altman’s leadership.
  • He suggests this shift also reflects a reduced emphasis on safety, which Hinton believes should take precedence over rapid development.

What happened? Hinton’s Nobel Prize in Physics comes just before the first anniversary of the OpenAI crisis and the second anniversary of ChatGPT’s launch.

Sutskever, a former OpenAI board member, played a role in Altman’s ouster. However, he later expressed regret and requested Altman’s reinstatement. Sutskever eventually left the company in May to found Safe Superintelligence (SSI).

Between the lines. This critique highlights a growing concern in the AI community: the development of more advanced systems brings greater potential risks.

Yet, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to predict and control the outcomes of these rapidly advancing AI models.

Image | Collision Conf

Related | The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Is Awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper

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