OpenAI exec claims Elon Musk called him donkey during AGI safety argument, here is why
Follow UsAn OpenAI executive testified that Musk once called him a 'jackass' during a heated debate about AI safety and the future of AGI.
The argument happened during an OpenAI all-hands meeting in February 2018.
Musk wanted to race towards AGI, OpenAI executive said.
The ongoing legal battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has revealed another dramatic moment from OpenAI’s early days. An OpenAI executive has testified that Musk once called him a ‘jackass’ during a heated debate about AI safety and the future of AGI. Joshua Achiam, OpenAI’s chief futurist, spoke about the incident while testifying in court on Wednesday.
SurveyAccording to Achiam, the argument happened during an OpenAI all-hands meeting in February 2018, shortly before Musk left the company he had cofounded with Altman, reports Business Insider. Achiam said around 50 to 60 employees attended the meeting. At the time, Musk said that Tesla would soon compete with OpenAI for top AI talent, which could create a ‘conflict of interest.’
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Achiam also told the jury that Musk did not seem confident about OpenAI’s direction. Musk ‘wanted to go and do his own thing and sort of pursue AGI in his own way,’ Achiam said.
According to Achiam, Musk wanted to move quickly toward AGI because he feared another company could develop it first and misuse it. ‘It sounded like he wanted to race towards AGI, like he wanted to build it very fast, because he was very worried that someone else, if they got it, would do the wrong thing with it,’ Achiam said.
He further added that racing toward AGI felt like a ‘fairly unsafe proposition’ and described Musk’s idea as ‘reckless.’
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‘We didn’t know whether a science fiction super intelligence bootstrapping event where you set the thing running one night, and you come back the next morning, and it’s so unbelievably smart it can crack encryption and take over the world was a science fiction scenario or not?’ Achiam said.
During the disagreement, Achiam challenged Musk’s views, which led to the tense exchange. ‘He snapped and called me a jackass,’ Achiam testified.
Later, Achiam said some colleagues thanked him for speaking up. At another company meeting, he even received a trophy depicting a ‘jackass’ with the message: ‘Never stop being a jackass for safety.’
Also read: Sam Altman says Elon Musk wanted OpenAI under family control, hurt company culture with pressure
