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By Monica Sager
Live News Reporter
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An OpenAI safety researcher announced that he left the artificial intelligence giant last year, noting that he is "pretty terrified by the pace of AI development these days."
In posts on X, formerly Twitter, Steven Adler shared that he quit OpenAI in mid-November due to the "risky gamble" the artificial general intelligence race is taking on.
Newsweek reached out to OpenAI via email and Adler via social media for comment.
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Why It Matters
OpenAI has faced questions about its AI safety and ethics approaches. Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher turned whistleblower, died on November 26 in a suspected suicide, which has been questioned with concerns around OpenAI's potential involvement in the death.
Whistleblowers have also filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), calling for an investigation into allegedly restrictive nondisclosure agreements, according to a letter from the legally protected whistleblowers provided to Newsweek.
AI has the potential to enhance productivity by automating tasks but also poses the risk of job displacement if not implemented carefully. President Donald Trump has promised to "repeal Joe Biden's dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology."
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What To Know
Adler took to social media on Monday to share his concerns about the exponential growth within the AI field.
"Today, it seems like we're stuck in a really bad equilibrium," Adler wrote on X. "Even if a lab truly wants to develop AGI responsibly, others can still cut corners to catch up, maybe disastrously. And this pushes all to speed up. I hope labs can be candid about real safety regs needed to stop this."
He said no lab has a "solution to AI alignment today," even though the race to outpace and grow continues.
Adler listed how he is "pretty terrified by the pace of AI development these days" and how it raises concerns about "where I'll raise a future family or how much to save for retirement, I can't help but wonder: Will humanity even make it to that point?"
Adler's LinkedIn profile lists him working at OpenAI for four years, most recently as the lead of "safety-related research and programs for both first-time product launches and for more-speculative long term AI systems." He is also listed as an author of several OpenAI blog posts.
Adler listed his research interests: "What abilities/propensities might be dangerous for an AI system to have?" "How can we tell if AI systems have these?" and "What mitigations/governance mechanisms might be effective for reducing these risks while preserving the upsides?"
Adler said in his posts on X on Monday that he is now "enjoying a break for a bit."
He previously worked as the chief of staff at Partnership on AI, as a senior business analyst at McKinsey & Company, and as a tech, media and telecom strategist at Altman Vilandrie & Company.
What People Are Saying
Atelier software developer Lunens, on X: "You left one of the prime AI companies working on safety and now you say you are terrified by the pace of AI development - do you feel you can do more for it outside the tent? Curious about what informed your choices and what you saw that influenced your decision."
Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California Berkeley, told the Financial Times: "AGI race is a race towards the edge of a cliff... Even the CEOs who are engaging in the race have stated that whoever wins has a significant probability of causing human extinction in the process because we have no idea how to control systems more intelligent than ourselves."
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at a press conference last week on AI joint venture Stargate: "I'm thrilled we get to do this in the United States of America. I think this is the most important thing we do in this era."
What Happens Next
On Tuesday, OpenAI launched a ChatGPT Gov product for governmental agencies in the United States. This comes after President Donald Trump announced a new AI project called Stargate with Altman, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son and Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison.
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