OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, who has been touring Asia in a bid to discuss AI regulations with governments and policy makers, was in India earlier this month. During his India visit, Altman discussed his view on open source, regulation, and opportunities in the era of AI.
On the sidelines of his appearance at IIIT-Delhi, Altman expressed caution and noted that regulation of open-source AI is important "Open source is important, as it gets more powerful, we will need some guardrails on it," Altman told Business Today.
Open-source AI refers to AI projects developed and maintained via open collaboration, and made available, for anyone to use, examine, alter and redistribute. This open and collaborative nature makes it difficult for law makers to regulate open-source projects.
Despite his cautionary take on open source, Altman also noted that he thinks that the current era of AI innovation is a 'Cambrian explosion of talent'. He added that policy makers and governments have to ensure that they do not end up over regulating AI, in turn hampering innovation.
"I would also want to add that although regulation is important, I worry about over regulating. By over regulating, you are stopping what is an incredible, incredible Cambrian explosion of talent and creativity," Altman said.
It is worth noting that governments across the world have been mulling on how to regulate open-source AI. The European Union’s attempt to regulate open source has been criticised by stakeholders.
A report by the think tank Brookings noted that EU’s regulations are favouring big tech companies, giving them an edge over other small players. The report stated that this could further "concentrate power over the future of AI in large technology companies and prevent research that is critical to the public’s understanding of AI".
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