Open AI is known for its AI chatbot, GPT, with over a 100 million downloads. The website generated over 1.6 billion visits in June 2023. But who is Open AI really and what can we expect in the future? Let’s take a closer look.
Open AI was founded in 2015 by Sam Altman and Elon Musk, serving as the initial board members. Sam Altman, born on April 22nd, 1985, grew up in St Louis, Missouri. After studying computer science at Stanford University, he dropped out and became a highly successful entrepreneur in the field of AI technology.
Thanks to investments from individual investors like Reed Hoffman, Peter Thiel, and Jessica Livingston, as well as corporate investors like Microsoft, Casula Ventures, and Infosys, Open AI has been able to grow exponentially. In December 2015, the founders pledged over 1 billion US dollars to the venture.
Open AI is headquartered at the Pioneer Building in Mission District, San Francisco. In 2018, Musk resigned from his board seat, citing a potential future conflict of interest with his role as CEO of Tesla. However, Open AI continued to thrive and in 2019, announced a partnership with Microsoft, with an investment package of one billion dollars into the company.
In January 2023, Microsoft announced a new multi-year 10 billion US dollar investment in Open AI. Two months later, Open AI released its latest version, GPT-4, which is currently available for $20 per month. However, the free version is also good enough for some tasks.
Open AI believes that AI will be a technological revolution on the scale of the agricultural, industrial, and computer revolutions. Their goal is the creation and deployment of safe and beneficial AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). They have a non-profit organization that governs everything and has the ability to block deployments that would create safety issues.
Some scientists, such as Stephen Hawking and Stuart Russell, have expressed concerns about the potential risks of advanced AI. Musk and Altman are also motivated by concerns about AI safety and the existential risk from artificial general intelligence.
While Open AI is a major player in the AI world, it is not the biggest threat. It currently ranks seventh among AI companies with a market cap of 30 billion dollars. However, in the rapidly growing market, a single development can make a significant difference.
In conclusion, Open AI is at the forefront of AI technology and has the potential to shape the future of artificial intelligence. Its success and partnerships with companies like Microsoft demonstrate its influence and capabilities. However, it is crucial to address the concerns surrounding AI safety and ensure the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies.
What are your thoughts on Open AI and the future of artificial intelligence? Leave your comments below.
