OpenAI continues to get pushback, but only stands to gain from going for-profit

Ownership wars of the largest-ever economic engine

Inbar pointed out that in the AI world, there is no “fair” competition or second-best — it’s a winner-take-all situation.

“Imagine a race to get up and down a slide,” he said. “The first to get to the top of the slide may be just inches ahead of the others, but the moment they start sliding, the gap opened is so much larger than the inches at the top that it is impossible to catch up any more.”

Going for-profit will help OpenAI maintain superiority, with stable funding from shareholders, he noted. On the other hand, though, the public will no longer be able to benefit from, contribute to, or influence AI development.