- Ari Emanuel, CEO of media conglomerate Endeavor, called for guardrails around artificial intelligence.
- The technology will be necessary, he said in an interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
- But he said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman cannot be trusted and the government needs to step in.
Ari Emanuel, CEO of sports and entertainment conglomerate Endeavor, called OpenAI CEO Sam Altman a “con man” who cannot be trusted when it comes to artificial intelligence.
At the Aspen Ideas Festival on Friday, the media mogul was asked to share his thoughts on AI and the comfort that innovators like Altman give about the technology.
Emanuel first thought of Elon Musk, calling him a “friend” and saying they disagree on many things, but not on the risks of AI.
“If he’s nervous, we should be nervous,” Emanuel said, “and I think we need guardrails.”
As for Altman, Emanuel wasn’t as kind.
“When it comes to Sam Altman, I think he’s a con man,” he said, criticizing the fact that OpenAI started as a non-profit and Altman “is now making a lot of money.”
OpenAI has an unusual corporate structure known as a “capped profit” company, in which the for-profit arm is overseen by a nonprofit. Altman does not directly own shares in OpenAI.
The purpose of this structure was to ensure that OpenAI would pursue artificial general intelligence that benefits humanity before prioritizing profits. In recent months, OpenAI’s commitment to that mission has come under scrutiny.
“I don’t know why I would trust him,” Emanuel said. “I don’t know why I would trust these people.”
An OpenAI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two days before Emanuel spoke at the festival, Altman and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky also attended the same event and said they needed public input on building responsible AI.
“We need to learn how to make safe technology,” Altman said. “We need to figure out how to make safe products, and that includes an ongoing dialogue with society.”
Emanuel said he doesn’t want to stifle innovation, because people like Altman are likely very smart, but he doesn’t believe innovators are properly weighing the benefits and drawbacks of AI.
“I thought there was a lot of bad stuff,” he said. “And now you’ve done the math and you’re saying the good outweighs the bad? Really? I don’t think so.”
Endeavor’s CEO added that as AI continues to develop, government regulation will be needed.
“I don’t want to stifle innovation because I think we need AI, but AI needs to be reined in,” he said. “I know a lot of people in Silicon Valley don’t like government intervention. Governments haven’t excelled in the field because they’ve put reins on it. But AI is a very dynamic technology, and we need to really take a long time to think about what it can and can’t do.”
