30s Summary

Miles Brundage, a former safety researcher for OpenAI, has resigned to pursue his own research and work in AI policy and advocacy. His departure could leave the company’s “AGI Readiness” squad, responsible for developing artificial general intelligence policies and safety measures, without a leader. OpenAI has also witnessed an exodus of executives and key personnel, some of whom have founded AI companies valued in the billions. Brundage’s potential next step could be starting or joining a non-profit organisation focused on AI policy research and advocacy.

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Miles Brundage, a former safety researcher for OpenAI, has inked his resignation with plans to either start or join another company in the AI field. Back in 2018, Miles hopped on board with OpenAI, rising to the company’s chief security guy, and even headed the “AGI Readiness” squad before his departure on Oct. 23. 

In a blog post chatting about his exit, Miles dropped the bomb that the “AGI Readiness” crew could be left hanging, leaving OpenAI possibly without its own safety patrol. Now, when we say AGI or artificial general intelligence, we’re talking about a hypothetical type of AI that sees machines doing any and everything humans can do, provided they’ve got the right resources.

As far as Miles’ role at OpenAI goes, his main job was giving the company advice on policies and safety while they were in the process of fleshing out AGI. The reason he’s chosen to dip? Well, his post said he wanted to zoom in on his own research and advocacy work. He wants to step away from the corporate influence, and cast his net wider into entrepreneur spaces or seek out opportunities in other organizations.

As for Miles’ next game plan, he’s got his eyes set on starting or being part of a non-profit focused on AI policy research and advocacy. And it seems like he might not be job-hunting for long. He’s already rubbing elbows with Brendan McCord, founder and boss man at Cosmos Institute, which is all about developing tech with a human touch.

What Miles’ departure means for OpenAI still remains fuzzy. In response, OpenAI commended his ambition for policy research outside industry confines and seems eager to see what comes next from his independent work. When asked about the future of the “AGI Readiness” team, however, the company chose to stay mum.

This workers’ exodus at OpenAI doesn’t just stop at Miles. Before this, the company’s primary oversight team for AGI was known as “Superalignment”. After one of the team leads quit, it ended up getting disbanded, while some of the co-founders left and started their own AI companies which are valued in billions. OpenAI has also lost another co-founder who jumped ship to a rival company. On top of that, OpenAI’s former CTO is said to be in the process of amassing funds to start up another AI competitor.

Source: Cointelegraph