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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."

3 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. 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: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.'"