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Comment and Technology

OpenAI’s warnings about risky AI are mostly just marketing

A powerful new AI called o1 is the most dangerous that OpenAI has ever released, the firm claims – but who are these warnings for, asks Chris Stokel-Walker

By Chris Stokel-Walker

13 September 2024

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned about the dangers of AI

Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg via Getty Images

OpenAI has announced a new AI model, esoterically dubbed o1, that it describes as even more capable than anything that has come before – and even more dangerous. But before you start worrying about the machine apocalypse, it is worth thinking about what purpose such warnings serve.

While previous models such as GPT-4 were considered “low” risk for public release, according to OpenAI’s in-house framework, its new o1 model is the first to qualify as “medium” risk on half the criteria. OpenAI bases…

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