In December, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donated $1 million to newly elected President Donald J. Trump's inaugural fund, along with a number of other technology executives working to improve their relations with Mr. Trump.
Now he and his company are laying out their vision for the development of artificial intelligence in the United States, hoping to shape how the next presidential administration handles this increasingly important technology.
On Monday, OpenAI released what it calls its economic blueprint for “AI in America,” which proposes ways policymakers can boost the development of AI in the United States, minimize the technology's risks and maintain an edge over China.
“We believe that America must act now to maximize AI's potential while minimizing its harms,” Chris Lehane, OpenAI's head of global policy, wrote in the 15-page document. “We want to work with policymakers to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared in a responsible and equitable way.”
OpenAI launched the AI boom in late 2022 with the release of the online chatbot ChatGPT. The company remains a leader, but faces numerous competitors. One of its biggest rivals, xAI, is led by Elon Musk, who has built a close relationship with Mr. Trump.
Many AI companies and independent experts believe that technologies like ChatGPT can increase economic growth by accelerating work and research in areas as far-reaching as computer programming, medicine, education and finance. But the continued development of these technologies requires enormous amounts of raw computing power and electricity.
OpenAI and its rivals are rushing to expand the pool of massive computing data centers needed to build and operate their AI systems, which will require hundreds of billions of dollars in new investments. With its new economic blueprint, OpenAI hopes to encourage government policies that can facilitate that additional infrastructure.
Notably, the company has called on policymakers to allow significant investments in U.S. AI projects by Middle Eastern investors, though the Biden administration has been wary of such investments. OpenAI argues that if countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia don't invest in US infrastructure, their money will flow to China.
“Are those countries going to build on the American track or are they going to build on the CCP track?” Mr. Lehane said in an interview, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. He described countries such as the Emirates and Saudi Arabia not as allies, but more as “swing states” that the United States or China will choose for AI investments.
OpenAI has also asked the government to take a light touch in creating regulations intended to ensure the safety and security of technologies built by OpenAI and its US rivals.
(The New York Times sued OpenAI and its partner Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. OpenAI and Microsoft have denied these claims.)
Last year, California lawmakers tried and failed to pass a bill that would place restrictions on tech companies building AI systems. OpenAI executives argued that the federal government, not states, should control regulations regarding the safety and security of AI development.
“That would only create real dissonance, both in terms of national security and economic competitiveness,” Mr Lehane said.
Mr. Altman will begin a charm offensive with a Jan. 30 event in Washington, where he will discuss the future of AI development with lawmakers, economists and Trump administration officials and demonstrate new OpenAI technology that he believes will will demonstrate the economic power of AI.
