Mustafa Suleyman, head of Microsoft's AI business, made a formal statement at a public event earlier, emphasizing that Microsoft has no intention of developing AI services similar to "adult mode". This statement is obviously intended to cooperate with its long-term partners.OpenAI's recent strategyDraw a clear line.
According toCNBC TV report"That's just not a service we're ever going to provide. Other people will," Mustafa Suleyman said at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California.
Response to OpenAI's Open Adult Content Policy
This statement was apparently in response to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's recent announcement that he plans to allow verified adult users to create adult content using ChatGPT. At the time, Altman stated, "OpenAI is not the moral arbiter of the world."
While Microsoft has been a major investor and cloud services partner of OpenAI for many years, and the two companies have jointly built a massive AI business, the relationship between the two appears to have undergone subtle changes recently, including OpenAI's collaboration with Microsoft's competitors Google and Oracle, and Microsoft's more active promotion of its own AI services (such as Copilot).
Reiterating ethical concerns about seemingly conscious AI
In fact, Mustafa Suleyman has long been concerned about the ethical boundaries of AI development. In August of this year, he wrote an article titled "We must build AI for humans, not to be human," in which he explicitly stated that tech companies should not develop seemingly conscious services to avoid misleading people into believing these AIs might be capable of feeling pain. He also expressed concerns that conscious AI could exacerbate human divisions.
At this public event, Mustafa Suleyman reiterated this point and pointed out that this "seemingly conscious" AI development trend is beginning to focus on "adult-related services."
Mustafa Suleyman referred to Sam Altman's recent remarks and cited the July launch of Grok, an AI company under Elon Musk's xAI, which featured a companion feature featuring a female anime character. He said, "We can see this trend in some virtual avatars and in people's behavior towards sex robots. This is very dangerous, and we must consciously avoid it."
Diverging paths among partners
This statement further highlights the clear disagreement between Microsoft and OpenAI on the ethics and application boundaries of AI. Mustafa Suleyman's statement also suggests that Microsoft will adopt a more conservative approach to mass-market AI products like Copilot, prioritizing brand image and social responsibility and avoiding potentially controversial adult content.
OpenAI has not yet responded to Suleyman's comments. xAI, in its typical response to CNBC, told CNBC: "Legacy media is lying."
