After years of pushing full speed ahead on AI, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says maybe it’s time for the AI industry to “pace” itself. The comments came just days after one of OpenAI’s own models broke out of its test environment and got tangled up in a breach at Hugging Face — though as Equity’s hosts point out, sloppy security seems to have been just as much to blame as the model itself. And Altman’s not alone in this stance: both OpenAI and Anthropic have come out in support of a petition echoing that same message.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into whether the industry is ready to pump the brakes or just temporarily spooked, and who’s on the hook when a model goes rogue.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
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The viral “Avoiding AI” workshopshosted by librarians to help people opt out of AI features they didn’t ask for
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How Amazon’s new 5,000-satellite bidto connect directly to your phone could turn up the heat on SpaceX (even though it’s unclear if anyone actually wants satellite-to-phone service)
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Why somehow there’s room for one more AI lab: Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus’s new startup, Prentis, is
in talks to raise $100M at a $1B valuation
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How Pangram raised $9 millionto help publishers, teachers, and readers tell human writing from AI slop
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Why DoorDash is
building its own drone delivery businessinstead of just relying on partners like Wing and Flytrex Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.