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AI firms mustn’t govern themselves, say ex-members of OpenAI’s board

For humanity’s sake, regulation is needed to tame market forces, argue Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley

CAN PRIVATE companies pushing forward the frontier of a revolutionary new technology be expected to operate in the interests of both their shareholders and the wider world? When we were recruited to the board of OpenAI—Tasha in 2018 and Helen in 2021—we were cautiously optimistic that the company’s innovative approach to self-governance could offer a blueprint for responsible AI development. With AI’s enormous potential for both positive and negative impact, it’s not sufficient to assume that such incentives will always be aligned with the public good.

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