AI research takes a backseat to profits as Silicon Valley prioritizes products over safety, experts say
Tech companies are focusing on AI products over research, say industry experts, who are sounding the alarm about safety.
Not long ago, Silicon Valley was where the world's leading artificial intelligence experts went to perform cutting-edge research.
Meta, Google and OpenAI opened their wallets for top talent, giving researchers staff, computing power and plenty of flexibility. With the support of their employers, the researchers published high-quality academic papers, openly sharing their breakthroughs with peers in academia and at rival companies.
But that era has ended. Now, experts say, AI is all about the product.
Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022, the tech industry has shifted its focus to building consumer-ready AI services, in many cases prioritizing commercialization over research, AI researchers and experts in the field told CNBC. The profit potential is massive — some analysts predict $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2028. The prospective repercussions terrify the corner of the AI universe concerned about safety, industry experts said, particularly as leading players pursue artificial general intelligence, or AGI, which is technology that rivals or exceeds human intelligence.