In short, just like the FTX crash highlighted the need for decentralised cryptocurrency not tied to any one exchange, Balaji said the OpenAI crisis demonstrates the need for a truly open-source AI.
Srinivasan stated, “I hate to make this parallel, because (a) I respect everyone involved and (b) there is zero true wrongdoing alleged, (c) everyone seems to be acting on sincere beliefs, and (d) OpenAI is a historical accomplishment technologically, and regardless of today’s events everyone should be proud of what they’ve done.”
“Billions in value have apparently been destroyed overnight, though we’ll need to wait for the next OpenAI valuation to confirm that,” he noted.
Moreover, Srinivasan drew attention to the legal ramifications, pointing out that in both situations, numerous lawsuits could emerge—this legal turbulence, he suggested, is a common thread that ties these crises together.
Srinivasan drew attention to the decentralisation that occurred seemingly overnight. In the case of FTX, a centralised service collapsed, leading to unexpected decentralisation. Similarly, he suggested that the cultural chokepoint OpenAI represented was decentralised abruptly.
“The EA-driven cultural chokepoint that DC was going to use to centralise the space has seemingly been decentralised overnight,” he commented.
“The stability of a centralised service that many users and businesses depended on has been called into question. On that last topic, we’ll have to see what happens to API stability,” he noted.
Drawing from the FTX incident, he noted that it emphasised the need for truly self-sovereign money in the crypto space. Translating this lesson to the OpenAI situation, he stressed the necessity for truly open-source AI.
“So, if the lesson of FTX was that we need truly self-sovereign money, the lesson of OpenAI is that we need truly open-source AI. Not your keys, not your coins. Not your weights, not your models,” he summarised.
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
