PANews reported on November 23 that, according to Reuters, people familiar with the matter said that four days before OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was previously fired, several researchers sent a letter to the board of directors, warning that a powerful artificial intelligence discovery could threaten humanity. The previously unreported letter and the AI algorithm were a key development in the board's removal of Sam Altman, as the board fired Altman a day after the letter was sent, and the letter was one of many board grievances that led to Sam Altman's dismissal.
Mira Murati, a longtime executive at the company, mentioned the project, called Q*, to employees on Wednesday and said a letter had been sent to the board ahead of this weekend's event, according to sources. OpenAI has made progress on Q* (pronounced Q-star), which some insiders believe could be a breakthrough for OpenAI in the field of superintelligence, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI). OpenAI defines AGI as an artificial intelligence system that is smarter than humans. Given the huge computational resources, the new model is able to solve certain mathematical problems. Although Q*'s math score is only at the level of elementary school students, an excellent score on such a test makes the researchers very optimistic about its future success. In their letter to the board, the researchers pointed to the capabilities and potential dangers of AI, but did not specify the specific safety concerns mentioned in the letter. A day later, the board fired Altman.
Researchers see mathematics as the frontier of generative AI development. Currently, generative AI excels at writing and language translation by statistically predicting the next word, and the answers to the same question can vary greatly. But conquering mathematical abilities means that AI will have stronger reasoning abilities similar to human intelligence. Unlike calculators, which can only solve a finite number of operations, AGI can be generalized, learned, and understood. Against this backdrop, Altman strives to make ChatGPT one of the fastest-growing software applications in history and has attracted the necessary investment and computing resources from Microsoft to get closer to superintelligence (AGI).
Previously, it was reported yesterday that OpenAI announced that Sam Altman will return to OpenAI as CEO.