OpenAI Forms New Safety and Security Committee Amid Resignations of AI Leaders, Disclosure of New AI Model and Call for Discussion on Safety

On Tuesday, OpenAI announced the formation of a new committee focused on providing recommendations to the company’s board regarding safety and security. This move comes after the dissolution of a team focused on AI safety in previous weeks. The newly established committee will be led by CEO Sam Altman, board chair Bret Taylor, and board member Nicole Seligman.

The decision to form this committee follows the departure of OpenAI executive Jan Leike, who resigned while criticizing the company for underinvesting in AI safety work and expressing tension with OpenAI’s leadership. Additionally, Ilya Sutskever, another leader in OpenAI’s superalignment team, also left the company recently. Sutskever previously supported Altman’s unexpected removal as CEO but later endorsed Altman’s return.

OpenAI has disclosed plans to train a new AI model to succeed the existing model powering ChatGPT. This transition to a new AI model, GPT-4, is seen as a step towards artificial general intelligence. The company stated that it is proud of building and releasing models that excel in both capabilities and safety but welcomes a thorough discussion on the matter.

The Safety and Security Committee will focus on evaluating and enhancing OpenAI’s processes and safeguards in the next 90 days. After presenting its recommendations to the board, OpenAI will publicly update on the adopted suggestions in alignment with safety and security guidelines.