Karen Hao, bestselling author of Empire of AI, recently explored OpenAI’s meteoric rise. The firm has grown from a musician-centric nonprofit collective into a closed, for-profit $90 billion universe. As AI takes on this radical new sort of form, what should we make of the consequences of its exponential expansion and the quest for AGI?
In 2020, Hao was the first to fully profile OpenAI. At that time, the organization was deeply committed to creating artificial general intelligence that would help humanity. She notes that this early vision quickly became overshadowed by a familiar mindset prevalent in Silicon Valley: moving fast, breaking things, and allowing scale to dictate success.
OpenAI’s ambition to achieve AGI comes at breakneck speeds, reflecting its determination to lead in the field of artificial intelligence. Internally, OpenAI operates with three distinct “clans,” all of which have adopted a “China competition” narrative that aligns with broader Silicon Valley interests. This approach helps overcome this effort’s development speedbumps and puts it into immediate, direct competition with international players.
As OpenAI scales, Hao contends that it is repeating the mistakes of imperialist history through its resource-hoarding and exploitative labor practices. The company’s behavior, she argues, amasses both political and economic power, all the while trampling over environmental concerns.
During her appearance on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Hao expanded on these themes and what might happen as a result of OpenAI’s course. She explained that the organization’s path today would set indelible precedents for equity in our country’s society.
“Move fast, break things, and let scale be the measure of success.” – Karen Hao
Rebecca is a senior reporter at TechCrunch focused on AI. She came onto the podcast with Theresa Loconsolo, a podcast producer passionate about producing Equity.…as we began to unpack the centrality of Hao’s reporting, especially as it has followed and chronicled OpenAI’s rapidly shifting role in the unfolding tech scene.