OpenAI saga: What is Q-Star? The ‘humanity-threatening’ AI that could be a reason behind Sam Altman’s removal

The OpenAI Saga that started last week seems to have finally come to an end. The precise reason why Sam Altman was fired from the company is still unclear. However, a recent report mentioned a new major development in OpenAI, that could be one of the reasons why the Altman was removed. Some insiders believe that Q-Star (Q*) is a new model under development that could be a breakthrough in the company's quest for artificial general intelligence (AGI), according to a report by Reuters. AGI, as defined by OpenAI, refers to autonomous systems that outperform humans in most 'economically valuable tasks'. The researchers also mentioned that this could threaten humanity.  

The report also links the OpenAI boardroom saga with this mega discovery. It claims that researchers had sent a letter to the board informing them about the threats of the new discovery. One day later, Sam Altman was fired. 

What is Q-Star?

The report suggests that Q-Star will be able to perform math at the level of grade-school students. That may seem like a small feat but the AGI has shown promise in solving certain mathematical problems, given vast computing resources. This achievement has made researchers very optimistic about Q-Star’s future success.

Math is considered a frontier of generative AI development. Current generative AI excels at writing and language translation by statistically predicting the next word. However, the ability to do math, where there is only one right answer, implies AI would have greater reasoning capabilities resembling human intelligence. This could be applied to novel scientific research, AI researchers believe.

Unlike a calculator that can solve a limited number of operations, AGI can generalize, learn, and comprehend. This is a significant step forward in the field of AI.

The concerns

This development has not been without concerns. In a letter to the board, researchers flagged AI’s prowess and potential danger. The exact safety concerns were not specified, but there has long been discussion among computer scientists about the danger posed by highly intelligent machines. For instance, if they might decide that the destruction of humanity was in their interest.

Sam Altman's role and removal

Sam Altman drew investment and computing resources necessary from Microsoft to get closer to AGI. In addition to announcing a slew of new tools in a demonstration this month, Altman last week teased at a summit of world leaders in San Francisco that he believed major advances were in sight.

"Four times now in the history of OpenAI, the most recent time was just in the last couple of weeks, I've gotten to be in the room, when we sort of push the veil of ignorance back and the frontier of discovery forward, and getting to do that is the professional honor of a lifetime," he said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. This is broadly seen as a reference to AGI. 

Also read: As Sam Altman returns to OpenAI, here’s who was fired from the new board and who’s in

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