OpenAI CEO reveals why he isn't interested in taking the AI startup public

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed why he isn't willing to take his AI company public, at least for the time being. Apparently, the top executive wants to have full control of the technology as it continues to garner popularity among users around the world.

Altman hosted a live Q&A (question and answer) session on June 6 at the ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market). The recently concluded dynamic session revolved around the future of AI, and how it is likely to impact the global landscape. These sessions also centered on opportunities and challenges associated with artificial intelligence.

OpenAI is staying private, here's why

During the event in Abu Dhabi, Altman pointed out that when the company develops superintelligence, they have to make decisions that public market investors may consider strange. "I like being non-conflicted," Altman responded when asked about his lack of equity in the company.

"I think the chance that we have to make a very strange decision someday is non-trivial," he added. Furthermore, Altman said he is willing to work with regulators and develop frameworks that can help minimise the potential harm from the technology. It is worth noting that Altman recently tried to calm people's fears about AI destroying the job market.

Monitoring AI advancements is important since there are concerns over the technology's ability to spread disinformation and even destroy humanity. In line with this, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's adviser recently pointed out that AI can be used to make weapons that can kill humans in just a couple of years.

OpenAI future plans

The erudite co-founder and CEO of OpenAI also had a message for software developers using the company's tech. According to a report by Business Insider, Altman said OpenAI isn't planning to make its foray into any other product segment. In other words, ChatGPT will be the company's only consumer-facing product. This piece of information has set developers at ease.

To those unaware, Altman has been on a world tour to put people's worst fears about AI to rest. Aside from this, he has been hearing from OpenAI's users and developers lately. Last month, the executive met with a small group of startup founders and developers in London. According to the report, Altman shed some light on OpenAI's biggest challenges during the meeting.

Moreover, he gave them a sneak peek at the company's roadmap. While Altman met them behind closed doors, their conversation became public when an attendee (Raza Habib) blogged a section of the private meeting. Habib is the co-founder and CEO of Humanloop, which is a startup that develops apps on top of LLMs (large language models).

The original blog post has since been taken down, but a copy of the post has been making the rounds online. The leak was originally reported by Fortune. To recap, OpenAI allowed developers to purchase its large language models in 2020. These developers integrated the LLM into their apps. Understandably, developers have been worried that OpenAI might come up with its own competing products.

In his blog post, Habib put these speculations to rest stating, "Sam said that OpenAI would not release more products beyond ChatGPT." According to Habib's blog post, Altman is also concerned about the lack of GPUs that are designed to power AI software. Apparently, the company had to cancel some of its short-term plans due to the shortage of these specialised computer chips.

Altman is traveling across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe in a bid to meet lawmakers and officials, who are recommending rules to monitor AI technologies. Ahead of his European tour, Altman held a meeting in Washington, where he called for more rules. Altman said his "greatest fear" was that AI technology would cause major harm.

OpenAI's chief executive is hopeful that Abu Dhabi will play a vital role in the global conversation to create safe artificial intelligence. He even pointed out that UAE "has been talking about AI since before it was cool." Notably, Abu Dhabi is the latest stop in Altman's weeks-long world tour, during which he has been talking about reducing the risks associated with artificial intelligence.