AI Companies Dismiss Safety Warnings in Pursuit of Profits
Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI fired a top safety executive after she warned that a new “adult mode” for ChatGPT would harm users and that the company’s child-exploitation safeguards weren’t effective enough. Last month, Reuters reported that Meta employees warned that Mark Zuckerberg “had rejected creating parental controls for the chatbots, and that staffers were working on ‘Romance AI chatbots’ that would be allowed for users under the age of 18.” Meanwhile, the people behind companies like Palantir, OpenAI and Meta are spending millions to eliminate safeguards on AI. Demand Progress led a coalition and organized a campaign asking Congress to oppose efforts to ban states from passing or enforcing AI laws.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Policy Director Emily Peterson-Cassin:
“OpenAI fired a top safety executive who warned about the company’s child-exploitation safeguards while the company’s co-founder pumped millions into an effort to nullify state AI safeguards. Mark Zuckerberg rejected parental controls for AI while also giving millions to super-PACs designed to buy AI-friendly politicians. We can all see what’s happening: AI companies want you and your family to be totally vulnerable to their unproven AI chatbots and are spending millions to tear down anything that could stand between you and them. Elected officials in Congress and across the nation need to reject these companies who want to sacrifice our safety for their profit.”