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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in comments to Politico that the benefits of artificial intelligence justify accepting some of the risks it could create. He described a fundamental difference between OpenAI and rival Anthropic over AI regulation, pointing to disagreements with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei about balancing benefits and potential harm.

Altman said he did not support an approach aimed at eliminating all risks of AI misuse, including fraud and cyberattacks. In his view, people would use the technology for far more beneficial activities than harmful ones. He argued that society should tolerate some negative outcomes to secure those benefits and allow people to make their own decisions.

However, Altman distinguished those risks from potentially catastrophic outcomes, stressing that he would not accept risks such as a complete loss of control over AI. In a statement to Politico, Anthropic said its regulatory proposals applied only to frontier AI models.

Key Takeaways

• Altman argued that AI’s benefits warrant accepting some risks of misuse.
• He rejected accepting catastrophic risks, including a complete loss of control over AI.
• Anthropic said its regulatory proposals cover only frontier AI models.