OpenAI is considering giving Microsoft access to artificial general intelligence, despite previously not intending to commercialize this technology.

The big dilemma facing OpenAI: Can general artificial intelligence (AGI) be commercialized? AGI is currently “expressly excluded from commercial agreements”: this can be read verbatim on the website. According to Financial Times sources, OpenAI may want to remove this clause to allow its partners, primarily Microsoft, access to the technology.

AGI is OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s wet dream. We speak of general intelligence when AI systems reach a level where they can learn any intellectual task that the human brain can perform. We’re still a long way from that, but OpenAI is already thinking hard about what it will do when it does.

Conflicting interests

The discussion around AGI illustrates the divergence in which OpenAI finds itself. The development of AGI is now the responsibility of the nonprofit arm of the organization. He believes AGI carries too many risks to be left in the hands of commercial partners.

Altman sees it differently. The CEO is trying to transform OpenAI into a for-profit company where the non-profit status is retained but has less weight. This means OpenAI needs to appease its partners and investors. OpenAI would therefore promise its most generous investor, Microsoft, access to AGI models. Altman hopes this promise will help them continue to provide money to fund the expensive development process.

OpenAI does not consider AGI to be the “end point” of artificial intelligence. Technology will continue to develop. It all still sounds like a distant memory, but OpenAI is also active in the present. The company is working on a “Christmas campaign” full of announcements, of which we were able to open the first gifts.