OpenAI adds former NSA chief to its board
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Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command Army Gen. Paul Nakasone testifying before a House committee in January. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
OpenAI said on Thursday that it is adding former NSA head and retired Gen. Paul Nakasone to its board of directors as well as its newly formed Safety and Security Committee.
Why it matters: OpenAI is looking to convince skeptics that it is taking sufficient steps to ensure its models are safe as it works toward its goal of super intelligence.
- Nakasone, who led the military's Cyber Command in addition to his time atop the NSA, brings cybersecurity and national security expertise to the board.
What they're saying: "Artificial Intelligence has the potential to have huge positive impacts on people's lives, but it can only meet this potential if these innovations are securely built and deployed," OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement.
- "General Nakasone's unparalleled experience in areas like cybersecurity will help guide OpenAI in achieving its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity," Taylor added.
- Meanwhile Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Axios that adding Nakasone to the board is a "huge get" considering he had lots of options after leaving government service earlier this year. "There's nobody in the security community, broadly, that's more respected," Warner said.
- Warner, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Nakasone brings needed expertise about cybersecurity broadly, as well as specifically around election security as well as competition with China. Nakasone, he said, has a "very realistic eye about the fact that China poses a different kind of challenge."
The other side: Several former high-ranking OpenAI employees have criticized the company for prioritizing speed over safety, including Jan Leike, who helped lead the company's long-term safety work, dubbed "superalignment."
