San Francisco Frontiers - OpenAI's Altman tells leaders regulation 'urgently' needed

Altman, CEO of the company behind ChatGPT, has called for global oversight in the past but last year warned that taking too tight an approach could hold the United States back in the AI race.

Frenzied demand for generative AI has turbocharged profits for companies while fuelling anxiety about the impact on society and the planet.

"Centralisation of this technology in one company or country could lead to ruin," Altman said on Thursday.

"This is not to suggest that we won't need any regulation or safeguards. We obviously do, urgently, like we have for other powerful technologies."

The AI Impact Summit is the fourth annual gathering to discuss how to handle advanced computing power.

It is the largest yet and the first in a developing country, with India taking the opportunity to push its ambitions to catch up with the United States and China.

"We must democratise AI. It must become a medium for inclusion and empowerment," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the gathering.

"We are entering an era where humans and intelligence systems co-create, co-work and co-evolve," he said. "We must resolve that AI is used for the global common good."

- Gates cancels -

Modi's comments were echoed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said "AI must belong to everyone."

He called on tech tycoons to support a $3 billion global fund to boost AI skills and makes computing power more affordable.

"The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries -- or left to the whims of a few billionaires," he said.

Researchers and campaigners say stronger action is needed to combat emerging issues, from job disruption to online abuse and the electricity demands of data centres.

But the broad focus of the New Delhi event, and vague promises made at previous summits, could make concrete commitments unlikely.

Google's Sundar Pichai and Anthropic's Dario Amodei also spoke Thursday.

A photo opportunity on stage featuring Modi and the group of tech bosses sparked ridicule online after Amodei and OpenAI's Altman awkwardly refused to hold hands.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, facing questions over his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, cancelled just hours before his appearance.

The billionaire said this month he regrets "every minute" he spent with Epstein. The mention of someone's name in the Epstein files does not in itself imply any wrongdoing by that person.

- Big deals -

Dozens of world leaders and ministers have joined tens of thousands of people from across the sector at the summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron, last year's host, said he was determined to ensure safe oversight of AI.

"Europe is not blindly focused on regulation -- Europe is a space for innovation and investment, but it is a safe space," he said.

India expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, and US tech titans have unveiled new deals and infrastructure projects this week.

OpenAI and Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced they would build hyperscale AI data centre capacity in India.

Google said it planned to lay subsea cables from India as part of an existing $15 billion AI infrastructure investment.

Power-hungry AI data centres are under construction worldwide on a massive scale as companies race to develop super-intelligent systems.

Their heavy use of electricity, and water to cool hot servers, have sparked alarm at a time when nations have pledged to decarbonise grids to tackle climate change.

India leapt to third place last year in an annual global ranking of AI competitiveness calculated by Stanford researchers, although experts say it has a long way to go before it can rival the United States and China.

Leaders are expected to deliver a statement on Friday about how they plan to handle AI technology.

One fear is disruption to the job market -- especially in India, where millions of people are employed in call centres and tech support services.

"We will prove that AI does not take away jobs. Rather, it will create new high-skilled work opportunities," Mukesh Ambani, head of India's Reliance Group, said on Thursday.

G.Collins--SFF