Elon Musk and tech elite plan to spend $1 billion to keep us safe from evil AI

Some of the biggest names in tech are joining forces to fund artificial intelligence research, with Elon Musk at the helm.

The Tesla CEO, who has long warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence, announced the formation of OpenAI, a nonprofit research company, in a tweet Friday afternoon. According to Open AI’s introductory blog post Musk will co-chair OpenAI with Y Combinator president Sam Altman.

Musk and Hastings along with a handful of tech elite committed $1 billion so that its AI research can be conducted without a need to generate revenue. This, OpenAI believes, will support research that has a positive impact on humanity.

OpenAI wants to accelerate the development and adoption of AI in a safe, responsible way, reflecting statements made by Musk in November 2014.

“We believe AI should be an extension of individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as broadly and evenly distributed as is possible safely,” it says in its blog post. “It’s hard to fathom how much human-level AI could benefit society, and it’s equally hard to imagine how much it could damage society if built or used incorrectly.”

Additionally, the organization is committed to freely disseminating its research via blog posts, open patents and code.

“We think the best way AI can develop is if it’s about individual empowerment and making humans better, and made freely available to everyone, not a single entity that is a million times more powerful than any human,” said Altman, in an interview in Backchannel.

“I think it’s fair to say that the commitment actually is some number in excess of a billion [dollars],” said Musk in the same interview.

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