Is Open AI going to become Closed AI?
Microsoft obtains the exclusive license of Open AI for the GPT-3 model
Recently, Microsoft announced that it has obtained the exclusive authorization of OpenAI's groundbreaking GPT-3 language model.
GPT-3 is an automatic text generation program. Open AI released GPT-3 in July, which is the third iteration of its evolving language model. The program and its previous iterations have helped create some high-profile artificial intelligence language experiments. GPT-3 has now become the most complicated program of its kind in the industry. It is currently the world's largest and most advanced language model with 175 billion parameters.
However, GPT-3 has also caused considerable controversy, which focuses on the ethical issues of artificial intelligence procedures. There are concerns that these programs may be used for more "evil" purposes. Open AI initially refused to publish research on the model because of concerns that it would be abused.
In a blog post in cooperation with Microsoft, Open AI stated that unlike most artificial intelligence systems designed as a use case, Open AI’s API now provides a universal “text input, text output” interface, allowing users to access almost Try it on any English language task.
Open AI said that this cooperation is a further expansion of Microsoft's $1 billion investment in Open AI last year and has become a multi-year partnership. Open AI has agreed to license GPT-3 to Microsoft for their own products and services.
Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott wrote on the company’s blog when announcing the transaction: “I think this is a huge opportunity to expand our Azure-powered artificial intelligence platform, democratize artificial intelligence technology, and realize new products, Meet the experience and increase the positive impact of artificial intelligence on scale." He emphasized that Microsoft's mission is to ensure that this artificial intelligence platform can be open to everyone, including researchers, entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and enterprises.
It is not yet clear about its commercial use, although Scott hinted that it can be used to build translation tools and even help people write. It is not clear how exclusive this license gives Microsoft. Scott stated that Open AI will continue to provide GPT-3 access through its application programming interface.
It is reported that after obtaining the exclusive authorization, Microsoft can directly access the GPT-3 source code and can modify it freely. This means that Microsoft can use the foundation of the language model. For Microsoft, this means integrating all aspects of it into Microsoft services.
Open AI stated: "This transaction has no impact on continuing to access the GPT-3 model through Open AI's API. Existing users and future users will continue to use our API to build applications as usual."
Although other companies and researchers may access GPT-3 through Open AI's API, only Microsoft reaps the benefits and can take advantage of all the advances in artificial intelligence to make it such a complex program. The Verge article commented that Microsoft has seen the great value of Open AI and is likely to be the first (and will be the only) company to transform its mainly experimental research work into real-world product advancements.
Musk criticized: Open AI is basically "controlled" by Microsoft
Musk seems very dissatisfied with the deal between Microsoft and Open AI.
He criticized on Twitter, "This (exclusive license) does seem to be the opposite of openness. Open AI is basically'controlled' by Microsoft.
OpenAI was co-founded by Musk and his CEO Sam Altman in 2016. Open AI was originally positioned as a non-profit research company. The company's goal-"Promote digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit all mankind, without being constrained by generating economic returns", has a clear positioning of "nonprofit". It is reported that Microsoft and Peter Thiel are in the list of Open AI donors.
Since its inception, Open AI and Microsoft have been closely linked.
In 2016, Microsoft and Open AI reached a cooperation agreement. In the future, Open AI will use Microsoft's Azure cloud computing system to run most large-scale experiments. Open AI is already an early user of Microsoft Azure N series virtual machines.
In July last year, Microsoft made a major investment of 1 billion U.S. dollars to become the exclusive cloud computing provider of Open AI. The two parties expressed that they would cooperate to establish a new Azure AI supercomputing technology, and hope to develop general artificial intelligence technology to solve the current artificial intelligence technology. More complex problems that can be solved. At that time, according to the agreement, Open AI stated that it decided to license some "pre-AGI technologies" and make Microsoft its preferred commercialization partner instead of manufacturing its own products to cover the cost of manufacturing artificial intelligence technology.
Although the two companies are long-term partners. But it is worth mentioning that Musk and the founder of Microsoft have always been at odds. The two have many points of view on topics such as artificial intelligence, super high-speed rail, and electric vehicles.
Not long ago, Bill Gates was asked in an interview with Bloomberg, "Is Musk a new generation of Jobs?" Bill Gates denied this statement. "Musk is an engineer with strong hands-on ability, and Jobs is designing and selecting Talent and marketing are genius".
Bill Gates recently expressed his views on electric vehicles on social platforms, "electric semi-trailer trucks and electric jet planes are likely to never appear." Although it is not stated clearly, the electric semi-trailer seems to be mirroring Tesla's Semi electric truck. Musk suspiciously responded. He told fans on Twitter that Bill Gates "knows nothing about electric trucks."
In addition to Musk, some people have expressed doubts and concerns about the exclusive grant of GPT-3 to Microsoft.
"Open AI should be renamed Closed AI, no matter what intent and purpose, they are a profitable company," said Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2).
The MIT Technology Review commented that Open AI was supposed to benefit mankind, but now it is only benefiting one of the richest companies in the world.
Reference link:
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/22/21451283/microsoft-openai-gpt-3-exclusive-license-ai-language-research
https://winbuzzer.com/2020/09/28/openai-co-founder-elon-musk-slams-microsofts-exclusive-gpt-3-license-xcxwbn/