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Palantir CEO Alex Karp has rejected calls to pause the development of artificial intelligence (AI), stating that it is only those with “no products” who want a

Palantir CEO Alex Karp has rejected calls to pause the development of artificial intelligence (AI), stating that it is only those with “no products” who want a pause. Karp believes that the West currently holds key commercial and military advantages in AI and should not relinquish them.

imiric 3y ago
> Karp believes that the West currently holds key commercial and military advantages in AI and should not relinquish them. Delusional take, considering the East holds the AI advantage.
- bbor 3y ago
  Very curious to hear your reasoning!
  - BSEdlMMldESB 3y ago
    I wold scarcely call it 'reasoning', it's closer to 'wild guessing' I think 'the east' has working multi-language LLMs, but the west's version doesn't quite perform as well with multiple languages
  - imiric 3y ago
    I'm mostly trolling to stir the pot and see HN's response, and you don't disappoint. :) But since we're all speculating here, if I had to place my money on who will come out on top with AI, it would be the East. And by East, I specifically mean China. While the West is scrambling to limit the pace of AI development, no such regulation exists in China. There have certainly been regulations to limit the power of Chinese companies in the past few years, but ultimately the shot caller is the CCP. An autocracy has more power and influence to direct its resources in a single direction much more efficiently than any democratic government. Then there's the manufacturing side. The West does still control the most advanced chip fabrication technologies, but China is quickly ramping up development with results that rival those of TSMC/ASML[1]. If any country can be self-sufficient with chip fabrication, it's China. There's only so much harm US sanctions can do to a self-sufficient country. [1]: https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/chinas-semiconductor-breakthrough/ https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/chinas-semiconductor-breakth...
    - amanaplanacanal 3y ago
      Are there any regulations on AI in the US? I’m not aware of any. > An autocracy has more power and influence to direct its resources in a single direction much more efficiently than any democratic government. Fortunately, because it’s an autocracy, there is no way to know if it is the right direction, until it fails.
      - ryandrake 3y ago
        I was going to say! The US is infamous for treating corporations with kid gloves and letting them basically get away with whatever they do. If there is a place in "The West" that's going to regulate AI, it's not going to be the US.
        ldehaan 3y ago
        [dead]
      - imiric 3y ago
        > Are there any regulations on AI in the US? I’m not aware of any. I worded that wrongly, but what I meant is that the current concerns with AI and discussions to pause AI development are entirely happening in Western countries. China will regulate its companies to comply with the goals of the CCP, but they don't have the same ethical and moral concerns as the West. > Fortunately, because it’s an autocracy, there is no way to know if it is the right direction, until it fails. They can also afford to fail fast. It's the "move fast and break things" approach to government. :)
      - 2devnull 3y ago
        “Are there any regulations on AI in the US? I’m not aware of any” There are yes. Environmental regulations that impact hardware. Personal information, privacy regulations that impact the training data. Business regulations that impact what businesses and business owners can do with labor, financial reporting, etc… We also have a fourth estate so if people like Yudkowksi get enough traction in the media the government will be force to act. That is worse than regulation by government, it’s regulation by the whim of the media owners. These are not AI regulation per se, but they are de facto restrictions that aren’t present to the same degree in communist China.
- yes_man 3y ago
  How so?
  - shri_krishna 3y ago
    Two words: Nvidia, TSMC
    - adastra22 3y ago
      NVIDIA is based in Santa Clara. TSMC is hosted by a strongly west-aligned country.
      - caycep 3y ago
        led by UC Berkeley engineers...
      - shri_krishna 3y ago
        Doesn't matter where it is based. Nvidia relies on 7nm N7 chips from TSMC for its GPUs. TSMC is based in Taiwan. Both at mercy of China - from trade routes going through South China Sea as well as raw materials being sourced from China. > TSMC is hosted by a strongly west-aligned country. Which is right next to an increasingly hostile neighbour who keeps threatening to invade it. Unless the West is willing to go to War with China over TSMC, I don't see for how long it can maintain advantage. Even Apple, Qualcomm depend on TSMC heavily. Lets face it. AI is primarily driven by GPUs sourced from Nvidia which depends on TSMC. China has been eyeing Taiwan for long now and we never know when it might decide to finally invade. There is no clear roadmap from the West on how it will defend Taiwan (except for saying US should blow up TSMC or TSMC should implement self-destruct mechanism in event of Chinese invasion [1]). [1]: https://theprint.in/world/us-scholars-advice-for-taiwans-top-chipmaker-self-destruct-mechanism-could-deter-chinese-invasion/1622123/ https://theprint.in/world/us-scholars-advice-for-taiwans-top...
        pokerface_86 3y ago
        nvidia doesn’t NEED tsmc, they have actually proved otherwise with the success of ampere on samsung chips
- ChumpGPT 3y ago
  Yeah, I'm sure you have better insight and way more knowledge about the state of AI than Karp. What does he know anyway. It's not like Plantir has any special access to AI or the US Military.
  - imiric 3y ago
    I'm sure the CEO of a US company whose clients include the US government would tell the absolute truth in a public forum, and not platitudes that would paint his company and clients in the best possible light.
  - Sporktacular 3y ago
    He has a vested interest in saying what is necessary to prevent regulation.
johnwheeler 3y ago
It is only those who nobody is talking about that do not want a pause. They declare “no pause” so that people may talk about them. Hence.
- ShamelessC 3y ago
  See also - those who do want a pause. Some of them, at least.
netsharc 3y ago
Somehow reading "The West" made me think their "enemy" is the Russians, and now I'm thinking of RussianGPT. Version 1 is a depressed literary figure who likes to talk heavy stuff. Version 2 is basically Baghdad Bob declaring victory in the face of loses. Meanwhile version 2 has also been found in many places, like Mar-a-Lago and 10 Downing St, London.

imiric 3y ago

> Karp believes that the West currently holds key commercial and military advantages in AI and should not relinquish them. Delusional take, considering the East holds the AI advantage.

bbor 3y ago
Very curious to hear your reasoning!
- BSEdlMMldESB 3y ago
  I wold scarcely call it 'reasoning', it's closer to 'wild guessing' I think 'the east' has working multi-language LLMs, but the west's version doesn't quite perform as well with multiple languages
- imiric 3y ago
  I'm mostly trolling to stir the pot and see HN's response, and you don't disappoint. :) But since we're all speculating here, if I had to place my money on who will come out on top with AI, it would be the East. And by East, I specifically mean China. While the West is scrambling to limit the pace of AI development, no such regulation exists in China. There have certainly been regulations to limit the power of Chinese companies in the past few years, but ultimately the shot caller is the CCP. An autocracy has more power and influence to direct its resources in a single direction much more efficiently than any democratic government. Then there's the manufacturing side. The West does still control the most advanced chip fabrication technologies, but China is quickly ramping up development with results that rival those of TSMC/ASML[1]. If any country can be self-sufficient with chip fabrication, it's China. There's only so much harm US sanctions can do to a self-sufficient country. [1]: https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/chinas-semiconductor-breakthrough/ https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/chinas-semiconductor-breakth...
  - amanaplanacanal 3y ago
    Are there any regulations on AI in the US? I’m not aware of any. > An autocracy has more power and influence to direct its resources in a single direction much more efficiently than any democratic government. Fortunately, because it’s an autocracy, there is no way to know if it is the right direction, until it fails.
    - ryandrake 3y ago
      I was going to say! The US is infamous for treating corporations with kid gloves and letting them basically get away with whatever they do. If there is a place in "The West" that's going to regulate AI, it's not going to be the US.
      - ldehaan 3y ago
        [dead]
    - imiric 3y ago
      > Are there any regulations on AI in the US? I’m not aware of any. I worded that wrongly, but what I meant is that the current concerns with AI and discussions to pause AI development are entirely happening in Western countries. China will regulate its companies to comply with the goals of the CCP, but they don't have the same ethical and moral concerns as the West. > Fortunately, because it’s an autocracy, there is no way to know if it is the right direction, until it fails. They can also afford to fail fast. It's the "move fast and break things" approach to government. :)
    - 2devnull 3y ago
      “Are there any regulations on AI in the US? I’m not aware of any” There are yes. Environmental regulations that impact hardware. Personal information, privacy regulations that impact the training data. Business regulations that impact what businesses and business owners can do with labor, financial reporting, etc… We also have a fourth estate so if people like Yudkowksi get enough traction in the media the government will be force to act. That is worse than regulation by government, it’s regulation by the whim of the media owners. These are not AI regulation per se, but they are de facto restrictions that aren’t present to the same degree in communist China.
yes_man 3y ago
How so?
- shri_krishna 3y ago
  Two words: Nvidia, TSMC
  - adastra22 3y ago
    NVIDIA is based in Santa Clara. TSMC is hosted by a strongly west-aligned country.
    - caycep 3y ago
      led by UC Berkeley engineers...
    - shri_krishna 3y ago
      Doesn't matter where it is based. Nvidia relies on 7nm N7 chips from TSMC for its GPUs. TSMC is based in Taiwan. Both at mercy of China - from trade routes going through South China Sea as well as raw materials being sourced from China. > TSMC is hosted by a strongly west-aligned country. Which is right next to an increasingly hostile neighbour who keeps threatening to invade it. Unless the West is willing to go to War with China over TSMC, I don't see for how long it can maintain advantage. Even Apple, Qualcomm depend on TSMC heavily. Lets face it. AI is primarily driven by GPUs sourced from Nvidia which depends on TSMC. China has been eyeing Taiwan for long now and we never know when it might decide to finally invade. There is no clear roadmap from the West on how it will defend Taiwan (except for saying US should blow up TSMC or TSMC should implement self-destruct mechanism in event of Chinese invasion [1]). [1]: https://theprint.in/world/us-scholars-advice-for-taiwans-top-chipmaker-self-destruct-mechanism-could-deter-chinese-invasion/1622123/ https://theprint.in/world/us-scholars-advice-for-taiwans-top...
      - pokerface_86 3y ago
        nvidia doesn’t NEED tsmc, they have actually proved otherwise with the success of ampere on samsung chips
ChumpGPT 3y ago
Yeah, I'm sure you have better insight and way more knowledge about the state of AI than Karp. What does he know anyway. It's not like Plantir has any special access to AI or the US Military.
- imiric 3y ago
  I'm sure the CEO of a US company whose clients include the US government would tell the absolute truth in a public forum, and not platitudes that would paint his company and clients in the best possible light.
- Sporktacular 3y ago
  He has a vested interest in saying what is necessary to prevent regulation.

johnwheeler 3y ago

It is only those who nobody is talking about that do not want a pause. They declare “no pause” so that people may talk about them. Hence.

ShamelessC 3y ago
See also - those who do want a pause. Some of them, at least.

netsharc 3y ago

Somehow reading "The West" made me think their "enemy" is the Russians, and now I'm thinking of RussianGPT. Version 1 is a depressed literary figure who likes to talk heavy stuff. Version 2 is basically Baghdad Bob declaring victory in the face of loses. Meanwhile version 2 has also been found in many places, like Mar-a-Lago and 10 Downing St, London.