OpenAI courts President Trump with vision of “AI in America”

In December, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined other technology executives seeking to improve relations with Trump by pledging $1 million to President-elect Donald J. Trump's inaugural fund. donated.

Now, he and his company are developing a vision for the development of artificial intelligence in the United States, hoping to shape how the next presidential administration handles this increasingly important technology.

OpenAI on Monday unveiled what it calls an economic blueprint for “AI in America” ​​to help policymakers accelerate the development of AI in the United States, minimize the risks posed by the technology, and gain a lead over China. I proposed a way to maintain it.

“We believe the United States needs to act now to maximize the potential of AI while minimizing its harm,” Chris Lehane, OpenAI's head of global policy, said in a 15-page document. ” he said. “We want to work with policymakers to ensure the benefits of AI are shared responsibly and equitably.”

OpenAI sparked an AI boom in late 2022 with the release of its online chatbot ChatGPT. Although the company continues to lead the field, it faces countless competitors. One of its biggest rivals, xAI, is led by Elon Musk, who has had close ties to Trump.

Many AI companies and independent experts believe that technologies like ChatGPT can accelerate work and research in a wide range of fields, including computer programming, healthcare, education, and finance, and can foster economic growth. However, the continued development of these technologies requires vast amounts of raw computing power and power.

OpenAI and its rivals are racing to expand the pool of huge computer data centers needed to build and operate their AI systems, which will require hundreds of billions of dollars in new investment. With its new economic blueprint, OpenAI hopes to encourage government policies that can foster additional infrastructure.

Most notably, the company has called on policymakers to allow Middle Eastern investors to invest heavily in U.S. AI projects, even though the Biden administration is wary of such investments. OpenAI argues that if countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia don't invest in U.S. infrastructure, that money will go to China instead.

“Are those countries going to build on the rails of the United States or are they going to build on the rails of the Chinese Communist Party?” Lehane said in an interview, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. He described countries like the Emirates and Saudi Arabia as “battleground states” that are choosing between the United States and China for AI investment, rather than allies.

OpenAI also called on governments to take a lighter approach in enacting regulations aimed at ensuring the safety and security of the technology built by OpenAI and its U.S. rivals.

(The New York Times sued OpenAI and its partner Microsoft for copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. OpenAI and Microsoft have denied these claims.)

Last year, California lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to pass a bill that would impose restrictions on tech companies building AI systems. OpenAI executives argued that regulations regarding the safety and security of AI development should be controlled by the federal government, not states.

“It just creates real dissonance, both in terms of national security and economic competitiveness,” Lehane said.

Altman plans to launch his charm offensive at an event in Washington on January 30th, where he will discuss the future of AI development with lawmakers, economists and Trump administration officials and demonstrate the economic power of AI. I will be demonstrating a new OpenAI technology that I believe in.