OpenAI's Altman says world 'urgently' needs AI regulation

Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, told a global artificial intelligence conference on Thursday that the world "urgently" needs to regulate the fast-evolving technology.

An organisation could be set up to coordinate these efforts, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

Altman is one of a host of top tech CEOs in New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit, the fourth annual global meeting on how to handle advanced computing power.

"Democratisation of AI is the best way to ensure humanity flourishes," he said on stage, adding that "centralisation of this technology in one company or country could lead to ruin".

"This is not to suggest that we won't need any regulation or safeguards," Altman said.

"We obviously do, urgently, like we have for other powerful technologies."

Many researchers and campaigners believe stronger action is needed to combat emerging issues, ranging from job disruption to sexualised deepfakes and AI-enabled online scams.

"We expect the world may need something like the IAEA for international coordination of AI", with the ability to "rapidly respond to changing circumstances", Altman said.

"The next few years will test global society as this technology continues to improve at a rapid pace. We can choose to either empower people or concentrate power," he added.

"Technology always disrupts jobs; we always find new and better things to do."

Generative AI chatbot ChatGPT has 100 million weekly users in India, more than a third of whom are students, he said.

Earlier on Thursday, OpenAI announced with Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) a plan to build data centre infrastructure in the South Asian country. 

AFP