Technology companies start artificial intelligence research institute

A number of prominent technology companies have jointly founded OpenAI, a non-profit organization for researching artificial intelligence. Elon Musk from SpaceX and Tesla, among others, is involved in the organization.

The arrival of OpenAI was announced on the institute’s own website. According to the initiators, OpenAI should promote research into artificial intelligence. This involves fundamental research, without the need to come up with commercial applications for it. Instead, the research should make a positive contribution to humanity, according to the initiators. Ultimately, the aim is to develop artificial intelligence that can operate at the level of a human being.

OpenAI involves a number of large technology companies. Elon Musk from SpaceX and Tesla, among others, is participating, as are former top executives of companies such as Google and Stripe. Amazon has also made commitments, and together the financial contributions amount to around 1 billion dollars, converted approximately 910 million euros. However, a fraction of that amount will be spent in the coming years.

Scientists will likely be able to write research proposals for funding from OpenAI. They are encouraged to share their results, for example in the form of papers, code or data files, with others. Patents derived from work funded by OpenAI will be “shared with the world,” the founders said.

Musk previously spoke out about the dangers of artificial intelligence. In a joint letter with all kinds of scientists, including Stephen Hawking, he indicated that humanity must be careful not to lose control over AI systems.