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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence With funding from Thiel, Yudkowsky had expanded his AI lab and created an annual conference on the singularity. Years before, one of Hassabis’ two colleagues had met Yudkowsky, and he snagged them speaking spots at the conference, ensuring they’d be invited to Thiel’s party. Yudkowsky introduced Hassabis to Thiel. Hassabis assumed that lots of people at the party would be trying to squeeze their host for money. His strategy was to arrange another meeting. There was a deep tension between the bishop and the knight, he told Thiel. The two pieces carried the same value, but the best players understood that their strengths were vastly different. It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke.
1501
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Years before, one of Hassabis’ two colleagues had met Yudkowsky, and he snagged them speaking spots at the conference, ensuring they’d be invited to Thiel’s party. Yudkowsky introduced Hassabis to Thiel. Hassabis assumed that lots of people at the party would be trying to squeeze their host for money. His strategy was to arrange another meeting. There was a deep tension between the bishop and the knight, he told Thiel. The two pieces carried the same value, but the best players understood that their strengths were vastly different. It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup.
1502
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Yudkowsky introduced Hassabis to Thiel. Hassabis assumed that lots of people at the party would be trying to squeeze their host for money. His strategy was to arrange another meeting. There was a deep tension between the bishop and the knight, he told Thiel. The two pieces carried the same value, but the best players understood that their strengths were vastly different. It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor.
1503
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Yudkowsky introduced Hassabis to Thiel. Hassabis assumed that lots of people at the party would be trying to squeeze their host for money. His strategy was to arrange another meeting. There was a deep tension between the bishop and the knight, he told Thiel. The two pieces carried the same value, but the best players understood that their strengths were vastly different. It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
1504
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence His strategy was to arrange another meeting. There was a deep tension between the bishop and the knight, he told Thiel. The two pieces carried the same value, but the best players understood that their strengths were vastly different. It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine.
1505
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The two pieces carried the same value, but the best players understood that their strengths were vastly different. It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine. They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence It worked. Charmed, Thiel invited the group back the next day, where they gathered in the kitchen. Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine. They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world. “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Their host had just finished his morning workout and was still sweating in a shiny tracksuit. A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine. They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world. “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders. “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development.
1508
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence A butler handed him a Diet Coke. The three made their pitch, and soon Thiel and his venture capital firm agreed to put £1.4 million ($A2.7 million) into their startup. He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine. They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world. “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders. “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He was their first major investor. They named their company DeepMind, a nod to “deep learning,” a way for AI systems to learn skills by analysing large amounts of data; to neuroscience; and to the Deep Thought supercomputer from the sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine. They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world. “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders. “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit. About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX.
1510
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence By the spring of 2010, they were building their dream machine. They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world. “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders. “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit. About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX. Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth.
1511
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence They wholeheartedly believed that because they understood the risks, they were uniquely positioned to protect the world. “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders. “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit. About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX. Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too.
1512
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence “I don’t see this as a contradictory position,” said Mustafa Suleyman, one of the three DeepMind founders. “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit. About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX. Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger.
1513
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence “There are huge benefits to come from these technologies. The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit. About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX. Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology.
1514
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The goal is not to eliminate them or pause their development. The goal is to mitigate the downsides.” Loading Having won over Thiel, Hassabis worked his way into Musk’s orbit. About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX. Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain.
1515
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence About two years later, they met at a conference organised by Thiel’s investment fund, which had also put money into Musk’s company SpaceX. Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data.
1516
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Hassabis secured a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Afterward, with rocket hulls hanging from the ceiling, the two men lunched in the cafeteria and talked. Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text.
1518
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Musk explained that his plan was to colonise Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – so long as superintelligent machines didn’t follow and destroy humanity on Mars, too. Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought about that particular danger. Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible. This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in.
1521
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Musk soon invested in DeepMind alongside Thiel, so he could be closer to the creation of this technology. Flush with cash, DeepMind hired researchers who specialised in neural networks, complex algorithms created in the image of the human brain. A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible. This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence A neural network is essentially a giant mathematical system that spends days, weeks or even months identifying patterns in large amounts of digital data. First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible. This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible. This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students.
1524
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence First developed in the 1950s, these systems could learn to handle tasks on their own. After analysing names and addresses scribbled on hundreds of envelopes, for instance, they could read handwritten text. DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible. This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company.
1525
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence DeepMind took the concept further. It built a system that could learn to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pong and Breakout to illustrate what was possible. This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer.
1526
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention.
1527
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence This got the attention of another Silicon Valley powerhouse, Google, and specifically Page. He saw a demonstration of DeepMind’s machine playing Atari games. He wanted in. The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money.
1528
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The talent auction In the spring of 2012, Geoffrey Hinton, a 64-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, and two graduate students published a research paper that showed the world what AI could do. They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security.
1529
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said.
1530
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence They trained a neural network to recognise common objects such as flowers, dogs and cars. Scientists were surprised by the accuracy of the technology built by Hinton and his students. One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said. He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe.
1531
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence One who took particular notice was Yu Kai, an AI researcher who had met Hinton at a research conference and had recently started working for Baidu, a giant Chinese internet company. Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said. He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe. Big Tech took notice.
1532
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Baidu offered Hinton and his students $US12 million to join the company in Beijing, according to three people familiar with the offer. Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said. He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe. Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think.
1533
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Hinton turned Baidu down, but the money got his attention. The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said. He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe. Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think. Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work.
1534
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The Cambridge-educated British expatriate had spent most of his career in academia, except for occasional stints at Microsoft and Google, and was not especially driven by money. But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said. He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe. Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think. Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work. He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed.
1535
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence But he had a neurodivergent child, and the money would mean financial security. “We did not know how much we were worth,” Hinton said. He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe. Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think. Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work. He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed. Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction.
1536
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He consulted lawyers and experts on acquisitions and came up with a plan: “We would organise an auction, and we would sell ourselves.” The auction would take place during an annual AI conference at the Harrah’s hotel and casino on Lake Tahoe. Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think. Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work. He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed. Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction. The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled.
1537
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think. Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work. He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed. Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction. The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled. They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down.
1538
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Big Tech took notice. Google, Microsoft, Baidu and other companies were beginning to believe that neural networks were a path to machines that could not only see but also hear, write, talk and — eventually — think. Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work. He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed. Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction. The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled. They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days.
1539
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Loading Page had seen similar technology at Google Brain, his company’s AI lab, and he thought Hinton’s research could elevate his scientists’ work. He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed. Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction. The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled. They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up.
1540
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He gave Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, what amounted to a blank check to hire any AI expertise he needed. Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction. The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled. They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction.
1541
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Eustace and Jeff Dean, who led the Brain lab, flew to Lake Tahoe and took Hinton and his students out to dinner at a steakhouse inside the hotel the night before the auction. The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled. They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said.
1542
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The smell of old cigarettes was overpowering, Dean recalled. They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million.
1543
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence They made the case for coming to work at Google. The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction.
1544
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The next day, Hinton ran the auction from his hotel room. Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google.
1545
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Because of an old back injury, he rarely sat down. He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering.
1546
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He turned a trash can upside down on a table, put his laptop on top and watched the bids roll in over the next two days. Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind.
1547
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Google made an offer. So did Microsoft. DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company.
1548
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence DeepMind quickly bowed out as the price went up. The industry giants pushed the bids to $US20 million and then $US25 million, according to documents detailing the auction. As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous.
1549
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence As the price passed $US30 million, Microsoft quit, but it rejoined the bidding at $US37 million. “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell.
1550
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence “We felt like we were in a movie,” Hinton said. Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter.
1551
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Then Microsoft dropped out a second time. Only Baidu and Google were left, and they pushed the bidding to $US42 million, $US43 million. Finally, at $US44 million, Hinton and his students stopped the auction. The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists.
1552
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million.
1553
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The bids were still climbing, but they wanted to work for Google. And the money was staggering. It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions.
1554
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence It was an unmistakable sign that deep-pocketed companies were determined to buy the most talented AI researchers, which was not lost on Hassabis at DeepMind. He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google.
1555
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He had always told his employees that DeepMind would remain an independent company. That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google. Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it.
1556
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence That was, he believed, the best way to ensure its technology didn’t turn into something dangerous. But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google. Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference.
1557
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence But as Big Tech entered the talent race, he decided he had no choice: It was time to sell. By the end of 2012, Google and Facebook were angling to acquire the London lab, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google. Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock.
1558
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Hassabis and his co-founders insisted on two conditions: No DeepMind technology could be used for military purposes, and its AGI technology must be overseen by an independent board of technologists and ethicists. Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google. Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind.
1559
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google. Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself.
1560
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Google offered $US650 million. Zuckerberg of Facebook offered a bigger payout to DeepMind’s founders but would not agree to the conditions. DeepMind sold to Google. Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire.
1561
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Zuckerberg was determined to build an AI lab of his own. He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google.
1562
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He hired Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist who had also done pioneering AI research, to run it. A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015.
1563
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence A year after Hinton’s auction, Zuckerberg and LeCun flew to Lake Tahoe for the same AI conference. While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale.
1564
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence While padding around a suite at the Harrah’s casino in his socks, Zuckerberg personally interviewed top researchers, who were soon offered millions of dollars in salary and stock. AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX.
1565
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence AI was once laughed off. Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out.
1566
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Now the richest men in Silicon Valley were shelling out billions to keep from being left behind. The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy.
1567
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The lost ethics board When Musk invested in DeepMind, he broke his own informal rule – that he would not invest in any company he didn’t run himself. The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair.
1568
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The downsides of his decision were already apparent when, only a month or so after his birthday spat with Page, he again found himself face to face with his former friend and fellow billionaire. Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”.
1569
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks.
1570
How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Credit: Bloomberg The occasion was the first meeting of DeepMind’s ethics board, on August 14, 2015. The board had been set up at the insistence of the startup’s founders to ensure that their technology did no harm after the sale. The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The members convened in a conference room just outside Musk’s office at SpaceX. But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence But that’s where Musk’s control ended. When Google bought DeepMind, it bought the whole thing. Musk was out. Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Financially, he had come out ahead, but he was unhappy. Three Google executives now firmly in control of DeepMind were there: Page; Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and Tesla investor; and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chair. Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Among the other attendees were Reid Hoffman, another PayPal founder; and Toby Ord, an Australian philosopher studying “existential risk”. The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth. Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The DeepMind founders reported that they were pushing ahead with their work but that they were aware the technology carried serious risks. Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth. Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued. Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder, gave a presentation called “The Pitchforkers Are Coming.” AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation, he told the board. He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth. Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued. Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world. A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He fretted that as the technology replaced countless jobs in the coming years, the public would accuse Google of stealing their livelihoods. Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth. Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued. Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world. A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go. The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Google would need to share its wealth with the millions who could no longer find work and provide a “universal basic income,” he argued. Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth. Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued. Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world. A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go. The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Musk agreed. But it was pretty clear that his Google guests were not prepared to embark on a redistribution of (their) wealth. Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued. Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world. A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go. The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Schmidt said he thought the worries were completely overblown. In his usual whisper, Page agreed. AI would create more jobs than it took away, he argued. Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world. A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go. The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Eight months later, DeepMind had a breakthrough that stunned the AI community and the world. A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go. The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence A DeepMind machine called AlphaGo beat one of the world’s best players at the ancient game of Go. The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The game, streamed over the internet, was watched by 200 million people across the globe. Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Most researchers had assumed that AI needed another 10 years to muster the ingenuity to do that. Demis Hassabis, right, co-founder of DeepMind, with South Korean professional Lee Se-dol. Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting. The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Lee played Go against the DeepMind machine AlphaGo in March 2016. Credit: EPA Rationalists, effective altruists and others who worried about the risks of AI claimed the computer’s win validated their fears. “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting. The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab. OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence “This is another indication that AI is progressing faster than even many experts anticipated,” Victoria Krakovna, who would soon join DeepMind as an “AI safety” researcher, wrote in a blog post. DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting. The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab. OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley. Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence DeepMind’s founders were increasingly worried about what Google would do with their inventions. In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting. The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab. OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley. Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride. The three men and others pledged to put $US1 billion into the project, which Altman, who was 30 at the time, would help run. To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence In 2017, they tried to break away from the company. Google responded by increasing the salaries and stock award packages of the DeepMind founders and their staff. They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting. The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab. OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley. Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride. The three men and others pledged to put $US1 billion into the project, which Altman, who was 30 at the time, would help run. To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google. (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.)
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence They stayed put. The ethics board never had a second meeting. The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab. OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley. Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride. The three men and others pledged to put $US1 billion into the project, which Altman, who was 30 at the time, would help run. To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google. (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.) Initially, Musk wanted to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit, free from the economic incentives that were driving Google and other corporations.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence The Breakup Convinced that Page’s optimistic view of AI was dead wrong, and angry at his loss of DeepMind, Musk built his own lab. OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley. Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride. The three men and others pledged to put $US1 billion into the project, which Altman, who was 30 at the time, would help run. To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google. (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.) Initially, Musk wanted to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit, free from the economic incentives that were driving Google and other corporations. But by the time Google wowed the tech community with its Go stunt, Musk was changing his mind about how it should be run.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence OpenAI was founded in late 2015, just a few months after he met with Altman at the Rosewood hotel in Silicon Valley. Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride. The three men and others pledged to put $US1 billion into the project, which Altman, who was 30 at the time, would help run. To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google. (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.) Initially, Musk wanted to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit, free from the economic incentives that were driving Google and other corporations. But by the time Google wowed the tech community with its Go stunt, Musk was changing his mind about how it should be run. He desperately wanted OpenAI to invent something that would capture the world’s imagination and close the gap with Google, but it wasn’t getting the job done as a nonprofit.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence Sam Altman Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek Musk pumped money into the lab, and his former PayPal buddies – Hoffman and Thiel – came along for the ride. The three men and others pledged to put $US1 billion into the project, which Altman, who was 30 at the time, would help run. To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google. (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.) Initially, Musk wanted to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit, free from the economic incentives that were driving Google and other corporations. But by the time Google wowed the tech community with its Go stunt, Musk was changing his mind about how it should be run. He desperately wanted OpenAI to invent something that would capture the world’s imagination and close the gap with Google, but it wasn’t getting the job done as a nonprofit. In late 2017, Musk hatched a plan to wrest control of the lab from Altman and the other founders and transform it into a commercial operation that would join forces with Tesla and rely on supercomputers the car company was developing, according to four people familiar with the matter.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence To get them started, they poached Ilya Sutskever from Google. (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.) Initially, Musk wanted to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit, free from the economic incentives that were driving Google and other corporations. But by the time Google wowed the tech community with its Go stunt, Musk was changing his mind about how it should be run. He desperately wanted OpenAI to invent something that would capture the world’s imagination and close the gap with Google, but it wasn’t getting the job done as a nonprofit. In late 2017, Musk hatched a plan to wrest control of the lab from Altman and the other founders and transform it into a commercial operation that would join forces with Tesla and rely on supercomputers the car company was developing, according to four people familiar with the matter. When Altman and others pushed back, Musk quit and said he would focus on his own AI work at Tesla.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence (Sutskever was one of the graduate students Google “bought” in Hinton’s auction.) Initially, Musk wanted to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit, free from the economic incentives that were driving Google and other corporations. But by the time Google wowed the tech community with its Go stunt, Musk was changing his mind about how it should be run. He desperately wanted OpenAI to invent something that would capture the world’s imagination and close the gap with Google, but it wasn’t getting the job done as a nonprofit. In late 2017, Musk hatched a plan to wrest control of the lab from Altman and the other founders and transform it into a commercial operation that would join forces with Tesla and rely on supercomputers the car company was developing, according to four people familiar with the matter. When Altman and others pushed back, Musk quit and said he would focus on his own AI work at Tesla. In February 2018, he announced his departure to OpenAI’s staff on the top floor of the startup’s offices in a converted truck factory, three people who attended the meeting said.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence But by the time Google wowed the tech community with its Go stunt, Musk was changing his mind about how it should be run. He desperately wanted OpenAI to invent something that would capture the world’s imagination and close the gap with Google, but it wasn’t getting the job done as a nonprofit. In late 2017, Musk hatched a plan to wrest control of the lab from Altman and the other founders and transform it into a commercial operation that would join forces with Tesla and rely on supercomputers the car company was developing, according to four people familiar with the matter. When Altman and others pushed back, Musk quit and said he would focus on his own AI work at Tesla. In February 2018, he announced his departure to OpenAI’s staff on the top floor of the startup’s offices in a converted truck factory, three people who attended the meeting said. When he said that OpenAI needed to move faster, one researcher retorted at the meeting that Musk was being reckless.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence He desperately wanted OpenAI to invent something that would capture the world’s imagination and close the gap with Google, but it wasn’t getting the job done as a nonprofit. In late 2017, Musk hatched a plan to wrest control of the lab from Altman and the other founders and transform it into a commercial operation that would join forces with Tesla and rely on supercomputers the car company was developing, according to four people familiar with the matter. When Altman and others pushed back, Musk quit and said he would focus on his own AI work at Tesla. In February 2018, he announced his departure to OpenAI’s staff on the top floor of the startup’s offices in a converted truck factory, three people who attended the meeting said. When he said that OpenAI needed to move faster, one researcher retorted at the meeting that Musk was being reckless. Musk called the researcher a “jackass” and stormed out, taking his deep pockets with him. OpenAI suddenly needed new financing in a hurry.
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How ego and fear fuelled the rise of artificial intelligence In late 2017, Musk hatched a plan to wrest control of the lab from Altman and the other founders and transform it into a commercial operation that would join forces with Tesla and rely on supercomputers the car company was developing, according to four people familiar with the matter. When Altman and others pushed back, Musk quit and said he would focus on his own AI work at Tesla. In February 2018, he announced his departure to OpenAI’s staff on the top floor of the startup’s offices in a converted truck factory, three people who attended the meeting said. When he said that OpenAI needed to move faster, one researcher retorted at the meeting that Musk was being reckless. Musk called the researcher a “jackass” and stormed out, taking his deep pockets with him. OpenAI suddenly needed new financing in a hurry. Altman flew to Sun Valley for a conference and ran into Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO. A tie-up seemed natural.