OpenAI and Google to limit publications in AI

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly competitive, as major tech giants such as Google and OpenAI vie for dominance in the field. Both companies have released hundreds of research papers related to AI in recent years, but are now planning to restrict the public sharing of their research. This move is being made in response to a surge of interest in AI applications, which could put smaller upstarts at an advantage if they gain insights from publicly available research.

Google has been a leader in the AI field for many years, but was caught off guard by OpenAI's ChatGPT AI-informed chatbot when it was initially released last fall. This showcased notable improvements when an updated, more powerful version of the generative AI bot was rolled out this March. Concerns arose that the development of ChatGPT was aided by the information contained in AI-related academic papers published by Google Research.

As a result, Google announced a policy change earlier this year regarding the release of AI studies. Under the new policy, Google researchers will only release AI research papers after they have incorporated the findings of those papers into the company's products. This move aims to prevent competitors from gaining an unfair advantage by using Google's research to develop their own AI applications.

OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, has also published some of its AI research over the years. However, in an interview with The Verge, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever said that sharing research more broadly was "wrong" because it could eventually allow AI to develop to the point where it becomes an artificial general intelligence (AGI) equivalent in intelligence to humans. Sutskever believes that open-sourcing AI is not wise and expects that it will become completely obvious to everyone in a few years.

While concerns about tipping off the competition may be a prominent deterrent to sharing research on AI, there are other reasons that can contribute to such a decision. Legal liability could potentially arise from the use of copyrighted material within the parameters on which AI technology is trained – which typically involves massive quantities of information scraped from the internet.

Both Google and OpenAI have been investing heavily in the development of AI. Google has been using AI to build personalized hearing aids, while OpenAI has been using AI to develop autonomous robots that can perform a variety of tasks. However, the competition between these two companies is just the tip of the iceberg.

Other tech giants, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, are also investing heavily in AI research and development. Amazon has been using AI to power its Alexa virtual assistant, while Facebook has been using AI to improve its social media platform. Microsoft has also been investing heavily in AI, with its Azure platform offering a range of AI services.

The competition between these tech giants is only set to intensify as AI becomes increasingly important in a wide range of industries. Companies are using AI to automate tasks, improve customer service, and make more informed decisions. As a result, the race to develop the most advanced AI technology is likely to be a key driver of innovation in the coming years.

Despite concerns about the restriction of public AI research, there are still many opportunities for smaller companies and startups to get involved in the AI industry. Many of these companies are developing innovative AI applications that could disrupt the market and challenge the dominance of the tech giants. As such, the future of AI is likely to be a dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape, with new technologies and applications emerging all the time.