2024 Physics Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton Says 'Particularly Proud' Of The Student That Fired OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Who Was 'Less Concerned With Safety Than With Profits'

After winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI,” took a jab at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

What Happened: During a conversation with University of Toronto president Meric Gertler, which was posted on YouTube on Wednesday, Hinton expressed pride in his students’ achievements, particularly highlighting the incident involving Altman.

The Nobel winner, who is a University Professor Emeritus of computer science at the University of Toronto, said, “I’d also like to acknowledge my students … they’ve gone on to do great things. I’m particularly proud of the fact that one of my students fired Sam Altman.”

He was referring to Ilya Sutskever, who studied machine learning at the University of Toronto, where Hinton has been a longtime professor.

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When asked to elaborate on his comment, Hinton said that explained that OpenAI was established with a strong emphasis on safety. Its primary objective was to develop artificial general intelligence and ensure its safety.

“One of my former students, Ilya Sutskever was the chief scientist and over time it turned out that Sam Altman was much less concerned with safety than with profits and I think that’s unfortunate,” he stated.

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Why It Matters: Last year in November, Altman stepped down from his role as CEO due to concerns about his transparency in communications with the board, leading to a loss of confidence in his leadership.

Later, when OpenAI's staff and top executives revolted against the decision, Sutskever conceded, expressing regret over the board's decision. “I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI.”

Altman eventually returned as CEO of OpenAI. “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” the company stated at the time.

In May 2024, Sutskever announced his departure from OpenAI, expressing confidence in the company’s ability to develop artificial general intelligence under Altman’s leadership.

Later in September, Sutskever’s AI startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), raised $1 billion to develop advanced AI systems.

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Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

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