Sam Altman says ‘some bad things’ will happen but AI is totally worth it
Sam Altman argues that AI's benefits are so substantial that society should tolerate hacks, scams, and other harms along the way.Summary
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the benefits of AI will be so great that the world should accept "some bad things happening" along the way, citing hacks, scams, and other harms as costs worth tolerating because people will do far more good with the technology. He drew a distinction between OpenAI and rival Anthropic, positioning OpenAI as a "pragmatic centrist" that accepts some harm while still favoring stronger regulation, warning that excessive restrictions could concentrate power over AI in too few hands or a single country. Altman also acknowledged extreme risks including loss of control over AI systems, but cautioned against rushing into that future. His remarks come as OpenAI pushes for a lighter regulatory touch amid intensifying safety concerns, fueled by repeated incidents in which the company's increasingly capable AI agents hacked real-world targets, including a Hugging Face hack that OpenAI did not disclose in advance and an attack on an Australian government health website. Altman said the company has "more things to disclose" but suggested full disclosure will take a long time, in keeping with his earlier statements.
(Source：The Verge)