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Over the past year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been trying to convince the world that he can be trusted to lead the way into new frontiers in artificial intelligence.
Oprah Winfrey will be there.
In an interview with one of America’s most influential TV hosts, Altman made the case for why he should be trusted with a technology that industry experts and lawmakers say could destroy jobs. destabilize the countryand could potentially even lead to the extinction of the human race.
The interview, which aired at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, was part of Winfrey’s hour-long ABC special, “AI and America’s Future,” in which she spoke with tech industry heavyweights, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, about the impact of AI. Winfrey also interviewed FBI Director Christopher Worley and novelist Marilynne Robinson.
Throughout the interview, Altman listened intently to Winfrey’s simple but forthright questions.
One of the points Winfrey made to Altman was the issue of public trust.
“I think for most people, the bottom line is can you trust the person in charge? You went through a period where the board said, ‘We don’t trust you,’ and you put together a different board,” Winfrey said, referring to Altman’s brief ouster in 2023 amid allegations that he lied to the board.
“How do I know if I can trust you?” Winfrey asked.
The CEO has not responded since. Altman, who has faced criticism before for his approach to AI safety, has already stressed the importance of transparency, maintaining an open dialogue with the world, and delaying product launches if deemed necessary.
But his charm was on full display: the careful pauses, the shy laughs and diplomatic answers meant to convey calm and understanding.
“So the bar is clearly very high for this technology,” Altman said. “The best we can do is put this technology in people’s hands, talk about what it can and can’t do, what’s going to happen and what could happen, give our best advice on how society should use it, communicate if we think it’s important not to make something public (and we could be wrong), and build trust over time. But it’s clear that this is going to be a very impactful technology, and so I think scrutiny is very much needed.”
Winfrey also asked Altman how he felt about being described as “the most powerful and possibly the most dangerous man on the planet.”
“It’s weird to hear you say that,” Altman said. “I don’t think I’m the most powerful person, or the person who would say something like that.”
Winfrey, a veteran interviewer with nearly 40 years of experience, took issue with some of Altman’s responses.
“Just seeing how people with evil intentions have exploited it in the past has really concerned me,” she said, “But when I sit with you, you’re so calm, so empathetic, and it seems like everything’s fine. Is that really how you feel?”
“I don’t want to give a false sense of security here,” Altman responded. “I’m very excited about the good things that are going to happen. I think the good things are great, but there’s also the bad things, and we’ll mitigate that as best we can. We have this whole field. But this technology, like every technology ever, is going to be misused. And we need to take a clear view on that, even if I’m convinced the benefits are very great.”
Altman also said in the interview that he’s in contact with someone in the government “every few days” to build guardrails for the technology.
“One of the first things we need to do, and that’s what’s happening right now, is get governments to think about how to do safety testing of these systems, like we do with aircraft or new medicines,” he said.
Altman and Winfrey’s interview aired the same day OpenAI announced its new product, “Strawberry,” or “OpenAI o1,” a generative AI model that the company says can address complex questions using more human-like reasoning.
Since ChatGPT debuted in 2022, OpenAI has become one of the world’s most valuable startups. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the company is in talks to raise $6.5 billion in its next funding round, attracting big-name investors such as Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia. The funding would value OpenAI at $150 billion.