OpenAI Assigns New Project to AI Safety Leader Madry in Revamp

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone with an image on a computer monitor generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone with an image on a computer monitor generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
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OpenAI Assigns New Project to AI Safety Leader Madry in Revamp

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone with an image on a computer monitor generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone with an image on a computer monitor generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP)

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said on Tuesday the ChatGPT maker's AI safety leader Aleksander Madry was working on a new research project, as the startup rejigs the preparedness team.

"Aleksander is working on a new and v(very) important research project," Altman said in a post on X, adding that OpenAI executives Joaquin Quinonero Candela and Lilian Weng will be taking over the preparedness team in the meanwhile.

The preparedness team helps to evaluate artificial general intelligence readiness of the company's AI models, a spokesperson for OpenAI said in statement, adding Madry will take on a bigger role within the research organization following the move.

Madry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.

"Joaquin and Lilian are taking over the preparedness team as part of unifying our safety work", Altman wrote in the post.

The Information, which was the first to report Madry's move, had said researcher Tejal Patwardhan will manage much of the work of the team.

The moves come when OpenAI's chatbots, which can engage in human-like conversations and create videos and images based on text prompts, have become increasingly powerful and have stirred safety concerns.

Earlier this year, the Microsoft-backed company formed a Safety and Security Committee to be led by board members, including CEO Sam Altman, in the run-up to its training of its next artificial intelligence model.



Emergency Meeting Held in Riyadh to Discuss Impact of Global Tech Outage

Hundreds of flights were affected at several airports around the world as a result of the global IT outage. (EPA)
Hundreds of flights were affected at several airports around the world as a result of the global IT outage. (EPA)
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Emergency Meeting Held in Riyadh to Discuss Impact of Global Tech Outage

Hundreds of flights were affected at several airports around the world as a result of the global IT outage. (EPA)
Hundreds of flights were affected at several airports around the world as a result of the global IT outage. (EPA)

The Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) said in a statement that it will hold urgent discussions with Member States and digital economy experts to address the implications of the global IT outage that disrupted vital operations around the world, affecting businesses including airlines, banks, broadcasters, software providers, and more.
In a statement reported by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the nine-country organization said: “The high level of impact the world witnessed as a result of the unfortunate outage is alarming and indicates the dire need for a more effective and agile international digital cooperation.
“The incident raised questions on continuity and sustainability in a world rapidly moving towards being highly dependent on digital channels and platforms. It is very crucial that the international community develops proper policies and protocols to mitigate the risks of such incidents and ensure the continuity of at least essential operations”, it added.
The DCO Secretariat General called for an urgent deliberation to “capture the lessons learned from this incident, assess its impact on national digital transformation plans, and plan practical steps to ensure that relevant stakeholders across sectors are aligned and ready to deal with such mishaps.”
The DCO is an international organization concerned with enhancing cooperation in all fields driven by innovation and accelerating the growth of the digital economy. It was established in November 2020 as part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts during its presidency of the G20 to promote the growth of the digital economy and digital transformation around the world.