One piece of background here is that I have been pretty deeply concerned about AI risk for a few years now. That’s part of what has driven my interest in seeking out conversations with experts and industry leaders in the space. What I have found is that the closer people are to the white hot center of the AI revolution, the more concerned they are about the threats.
I am genuinely encouraged by Dario Amodei's essay because Anthropic has punched above their weight as an AI competitor, and their seems to be evidence that there social good mission (they are public benefit company) is helping them attract some of the best talent in the industry. OpenAI, meanwhile, which has been criticized for abandoning their social good mission, is hemorrhaging talent.
In a world in which tech companies have the power of nation states — and may be on a path to having more power — the culture of those companies, and the character of the people who run them, is deeply important. Companies have different cultures, and those cultures attract and repel talent, much as nations do. Just as we take great interest in the personalities and political trajectories of totalitarian leaders like Putin and Xi Jinping, because we want to understand geopolitical risk, it's in our interest to understand the leaders and cultures of our top technology companies. I am hopeful that the US will remain a bastion of democracy for centuries to come, but in the event that democracy in the US falters, one can imagine global technology companies relocating and employing their influence for good or ill.
What do you think, am I overstating the case?
Separate question -- should we try to get Dario on the Next Big Idea podcast?
Wonderful thoughts Rufus. Yes, Dario on NBI would be great to hear. You are such a thoughtful interviewer that it would be an insightful discussion. These are tremendously big questions and the more thoughtful conversations we have about them, the better.
One piece of background here is that I have been pretty deeply concerned about AI risk for a few years now. That’s part of what has driven my interest in seeking out conversations with experts and industry leaders in the space. What I have found is that the closer people are to the white hot center of the AI revolution, the more concerned they are about the threats.
I am genuinely encouraged by Dario Amodei's essay because Anthropic has punched above their weight as an AI competitor, and their seems to be evidence that there social good mission (they are public benefit company) is helping them attract some of the best talent in the industry. OpenAI, meanwhile, which has been criticized for abandoning their social good mission, is hemorrhaging talent.
In a world in which tech companies have the power of nation states — and may be on a path to having more power — the culture of those companies, and the character of the people who run them, is deeply important. Companies have different cultures, and those cultures attract and repel talent, much as nations do. Just as we take great interest in the personalities and political trajectories of totalitarian leaders like Putin and Xi Jinping, because we want to understand geopolitical risk, it's in our interest to understand the leaders and cultures of our top technology companies. I am hopeful that the US will remain a bastion of democracy for centuries to come, but in the event that democracy in the US falters, one can imagine global technology companies relocating and employing their influence for good or ill.
What do you think, am I overstating the case?
Separate question -- should we try to get Dario on the Next Big Idea podcast?
Wonderful thoughts Rufus. Yes, Dario on NBI would be great to hear. You are such a thoughtful interviewer that it would be an insightful discussion. These are tremendously big questions and the more thoughtful conversations we have about them, the better.