Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, really wants AI regulation. Truly, madly, deeply, he wants it. Because of safety and stuff. Unless, of course, itās the type of regulation that he doesnāt want. If thatās the case, heāll threaten to withdraw his services instead.
Altman issued the warning this week during a tour of European regulators. He said OpenAI could ācease operatingā in the EU if it canāt comply with the blocās impending AI Act.
The 38-year-old is particularly worried about the plans for āhigh-riskā systems. Under the current proposals, OpenAIās ChatGPT and GPT-4 models would both be designated high-risk, which would make them subject to extra obligations before entering the market.
Another thorny issue for OpenAI is the new rules for generative models. As it stands, the legislation will require generative AI companies to disclose any copyrighted material used to train their systems. This condition was added after an outcry from artists, who say their work is being scraped and monetised without their consent.
Altman, however, described the proposed AI Act as āover-regulating.ā
āIf we can comply, we will, and if we canāt, weāll cease operatingā¦ We will try. But there are technical limits to whatās possible,ā he said, according to Time.
Altmanās response has been compared to a blackmail attempt by lawmakers. Propitiously, itās an experience that theyāve withstood before.
Put up or shut up
OpenAI is far from the first tech firm to threaten regulators with a product withdrawal.
Google has threatened to pull its search engine from Australia. WhatsApp has threatened to block its service in the UK. Meta has threatened to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe on multiple occasions. Microsoft has even threatened to remove Windows from unruly US states. To date, none of the threats has been fulfilled.
In Altmanās case, the U-turn came just a day later.
āWe are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave,ā he tweeted on Friday.
very productive week of conversations in europe about how to best regulate AI! we are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave.
ā Sam Altman (@sama) May 26, 2023
Altman is unlikely to be the last tech boss to backtrack on a warning to regulators. But the empty rhetoric is starting to sound like boys crying wolf.
If they want to be taken seriously, one of them should follow through on a threat ā or just accept that Silicon Valley canāt always get what it wants.
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