The boss of OpenAI and creator of ChatGPT, the American Sam Altman, assured Friday on Twitter that he did not intend to stop operating in Europe, but asked the European Union for a "fair balance" between protection and innovation, before an exchange in Paris on artificial intelligence and the future of media.
During an exchange, Sam Altman explained that he discussed with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday how to find "the right balance between protection and positive impact" of this technology, repeating this credo on the stage of Station F, a start-up incubator. "We plan to comply" with the future European regulation (IA Act) and "we really love Europe", but "we want to make sure that we are technically capable of it", he said.
Asked what was bothering him about the ongoing regulatory proposals, he replied: "An authorisation regime for the general framework and safety standards are quite relevant, which suits me very well." "But to say, when you don't know how generative AI works: You have to respect this guarantee 100% of the time, honestly, we don't know how to do it," he nuanced.
"Is this a threat?"
On Wednesday, in London, Sam Altman had threatened to leave the EU if the regulation became too restrictive and criticized the future AI Act. This had triggered Thursday the anger of European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who cried "blackmail" and tweeted: "Is it a threat? ". On Friday morning, the creator of ChatGPT sought to calm the controversy: "Very productive week of conversations in Europe on the best way to regulate AI! We are delighted to continue operating here and of course have no intention of leaving. »
In the afternoon, on the stage of Station F, where he was preceded by the Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot, the leader also praised the reception of the France, "a very interesting case, much more advanced in this technology and in its adoption than other countries. And engineering talent is very aggressive," he said, in front of an audience that included many start-up representatives. However, he refrained from saying whether he planned to set up a headquarters in the country or elsewhere in Europe. "We will open headquarters around the world but very slowly we are still a small company."
A tour to reassure
Paris is one of the stops on the tour of the creator of ChatGPT, who travels the world to reassure about AI and prevent overly restrictive regulation. While stressing its benefits for science and progress, he reiterated his support for global regulation of a technology that can "do a lot" of harm. But Sam Altman had also estimated before US senators in mid-May that regulation should not slow down the American industry in the face of China.
OpenAI's generative AI, ChatGPT for text and Dall-E for image, which opened to the general public at the end of 2022 with dazzling success and in a legal vacuum, have triggered an avalanche of fears, including misinformation, job destruction and looting of works.
