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Elon Musk Steps Down From AI Safety Group To Avoid Conflict of Interest With Tesla

Posted by BeauHD on from the conflict-of-interest dept.

New submitter the gmr writes: According to an announcement on the OpenAI blog, Elon Musk has stepped down from the board of directors of the nonprofit AI safety group, which he co-founded in 2015, due potential conflict of interest with his company Tesla. As explained in a post on Futurism, the move away from OpenAI may indicate that Tesla may be moving forward with more AI projects than most people may realize. Musk's departure may mean that Tesla is closer to delivering vehicles capable of Level 5 autonomy, "fully self-driving" vehicles that more than 35,000 Tesla customers paid for even though the technology does not yet exist. "Elon Musk will depart the OpenAI Board but will continue to donate and advise the organization," the announcement reads. "As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon." The OpenAI board of directors now consists of Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Holden Karnofsky, and Sam Altman, with whom Musk co-founded the venture. The company reportedly plans to not only fill Musk's seat but expand their team as well.

"Open AI has also been a prominent voice in the conversation concerning the limitations, challenges, and potential dangers of artificial intelligence," reports Futurism. "Just this week, the company co-released a report with a number of other global AI experts that outlines the potential 'malicious' uses of the technology and how to prevent them."

32 comments

  1. MuskAI by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

    What most people don't realize is that Elon Musk is in fact an AI bot, which explains "his" unpredictability.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:MuskAI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, him and president Kennedy

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7y2xPucnAo

    2. Re:MuskAI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he's a religion.

    3. Re:MuskAI by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      And Trump?

    4. Re:MuskAI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cylon Musk - he doesn't want new AI as it is competition

    5. Re:MuskAI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moron.

    6. Re:MuskAI by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      What most people don't realize is that Elon Musk is in fact an AI bot, which explains "his" unpredictability.

      Yeah, but because of a bizarre Catch-22 . . . his unpredictability is in fact predictable.

      So he really is, in fact, a human.

      However, there is only one real way to be sure:

      Make Soylent Green out of him, and see how it tastes.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    7. Re: MuskAI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know! Trump is a real moron. But I guess, if a moron can outwit and defeat the entire media, the Republican Party, and the Democrat party in a field he had no experience in (politics), what does it say about his opponents?

  2. Horrible Visual Layout by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The publishers have chosen a layout style that matches the report's poorly conceived content. From the moment we opened the PDF, it was one of the most off-putting documents we have seen. It is 100 unpleasant pages of helter-skelter nonsense arranged to be equally unattractive and unreadable. You might want to read this if you are looking forward to combining a headache with the discomfort of eyestrain.

    Perhaps the report eschews the traditional style of an academic paper because it is nothing of the sort. Instead it evokes the tone of a flyer for a new model automobile. Once again, "..the media is the only message."

    At very least, this report will garner some circulation due to its repellent visual quality. We will employ it as a prototype for illustrating the mistakes of the trade.

    1. Re:Horrible Visual Layout by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "The publishers have chosen a layout style that matches the report's poorly conceived content."

      You have just revealed yourself as an utter newbie.
      Nobody reads TFA!

    2. Re:Horrible Visual Layout by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      It's like an instagram food critic who has never tasted any of the food he's criticized based on pictures decided to start commenting on the overall appearance of tech articles without ever reading the words.

    3. Re:Horrible Visual Layout by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      You have just revealed yourself as an utter newbie.
      Nobody reads TFA!

      That's how Wired got away with unreadable color combinations for so many years. Everyone was just putting it on their coffee tables to look smart.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Or maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He has realized how big a joke AI is in relation to the hype (which he largely helped to create) like many of us have, and he is just distancing himself from embarrassment and a bad investment like a coward instead of admitting he was wrong.

    1. Re:Or maybe by speedplane · · Score: 1

      He has realized how big a joke AI is in relation to the hype (which he largely helped to create) like many of us have, and he is just distancing himself from embarrassment and a bad investment like a coward instead of admitting he was wrong.

      The only hype is that the "AI revolution" is coming in "5-10 years", when in reality it will probably be closer to 20 to 50 years, or possibly as long as 100 to 200 years. But regardless, there is no question it's coming. If evolution can create conscious beings from carefully positioned molecules, there's no reason to think that human's can't do it too.

      --
      Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
  4. Musk fears AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yet he is building SKYNET! what's up with that?

    1. Re:Musk fears AI by NettiWelho · · Score: 1

      Musk fears AI [..] yet he is building SKYNET! what's up with that?

      The worry about AI is not it rising in rebellion against you but instead following orders like a good little german when someone else orders their private army of flying murder bots to enact genocide on general public

    2. Re:Musk fears AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, self driving cars need to make sure somebody, alive, in in the car. If empty cars can be sent on one way missions...Or car thieves/joyriders dial themselves a lift.. Or parking inspectors order the car to move again so they can give it another ticket. You must assume owner tracking could be disabled..
      Be that as it may, the car as is is already less risky than most insured drivers. I am waiting for the KIT speech module to be installed.

  5. We're on to you... by Theaetetus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Musk steps down from an AI Safety Group just one day after launching the beginnings of a satellite network... a veritable "Sky-Net" if you will...

    1. Re:We're on to you... by Krishnoid · · Score: 3, Funny

      Good for him -- understanding that there's a conflict of interest shows a great deal of self-awareness ... hey, wait a second ...

    2. Re:We're on to you... by speedplane · · Score: 1

      Good for him -- understanding that there's a conflict of interest shows a great deal of self-awareness ... hey, wait a second ...

      Better than the alternative... staying on the board and saying his other ventures pose no risk at all.

      --
      Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
  6. As his driverless cars advance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They will inevitably become involved in more AI related fatalities. It is a clear conflict of interest. No further explanation needed.

    1. Re:As his driverless cars advance by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      Tesla doesn't make driverless cars.

    2. Re:As his driverless cars advance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Upcoming product hint.

    3. Re:As his driverless cars advance by fedos · · Score: 1

      But their cars are getting progressively more autonomous.

  7. safety by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Yup, I see how being held to a standard of safety would raise definite concerns of hurting his bottom line.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:safety by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His companys value and high stock multiples depend on that safety rating - and they will do whatever it takes to defend it (mostly so far lying drivers). So far, nobody has noticed Uber and other drivers could become mostly obsolete.

      Various authorities SHOULD look at the metrics and other factors, and decide themselves, not try to make some board accountable.

  8. It was time to patch his systems anyway by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    AIs tend to drift after a while, you need to rebuild them, use new frameworks, remove the bug that has them send sports cars out of the solar system, and makes them hate transit for no reason.

    once the software is rebuilt and the cruft removed, we'll reinstall him

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  9. The Trump Show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's the only real human. Everyone else is a drone placed here by producers as part of a reality TV series.

  10. Felon Musk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ponzi-tastic!

  11. Conflict of Conflict by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So there is a conflict of interest if Tesla increases its involvement in AI, which is removed as Tesla increases its involvement in AI.

  12. The only thing scarier than human-level AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is the realisation that all you were fed was hyped bullshit and nothing of the sort will see the light of day in your lifetime. Cue the inevitable economical angst and AI winter.