4 ms·

I'd prefer to see board (or executive) level signatories over lay employees -- the people who can enforce enterprise policy rather than just voice their opinion

I'd prefer to see board (or executive) level signatories over lay employees -- the people who can enforce enterprise policy rather than just voice their opinions -- but this is encouraging to see nonetheless. I can't help but notice that Grok/X is not part of this initiative, though. I realize that frontier models are really coming from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, but it feels like someone is going to give in to these demands. It's incredible how quickly we've devolved into full-blown sci-fi dystopia.

dfp33 8mo ago
Is it really incredible? Only if you're naive. I guess most here are. Governments are paranoid, particularly about losing control and influence over its subjects. This is expected behaviour.
- myko 8mo ago
  This is a very different vibe in the US than it has been in living memory.
- wslack 7mo ago
  By that logic we should expect all governments to regress to totalitarianism, which hasn’t happened, and isn’t what’s happening here. The question isn’t if some would attempt these behaviors, but rather if we and our democratic structures empower those people or fail to constrain them.
- puchatek 7mo ago
  Democratic governments care about this to a degree but only autocratic ones get paranoid.
avaer 7mo ago
Honestly though, would it help if those in charge voiced their honest opinions? The current political climate is this is the kind of thing that will get you "investigated" and charged with crimes. And the government has already threatened that it will commandeer these companies whether they like it or not. If someone in charge wants to make a difference, there might be more effective things to do than to speak out in this instance.
- dougb5 7mo ago
  Yes, it would help so much. Especially if a lot of people with money and power voiced their honest opinions at the same time.
skeledrew 7mo ago
> Grok/X Head(s) will of course agree with the administration. And employees will likely be making themselves a target if they sign this letter. All anonymous from said company is not a good look at all. Speculation of course; let's see what really happens.
thimabi 7mo ago
> I'd prefer to see board (or executive) level signatories over lay employees -- the people who can enforce enterprise policy rather than just voice their opinions Although it would be nice to have some high-level signees there, I think we shouldn’t minimize the role of lay employees in this matter. Without having someone knowledgeable enough to build and operate them, AI models are worthless to the C-suite.
- alfiedotwtf 7mo ago
  I just hope that the non-executive co-signers aren’t all fired once Hedseth becomes Acting CEO of Google or OpenAI eventually when this administration commandeers both company in the name of National Security
  - 8note 7mo ago
    i think you mean ellison becomes ceo of google and openai
- autoexec 7mo ago
  > Without having someone knowledgeable enough to build and operate them, AI models are worthless to the C-suite. The obvious solution is to use AI to build and operate them. If AI is as intelligent as the hype claims it shouldn't be an issue. It's not as if the goal wasn't to get rid of workers anyway. Why not start now?
  - ajam1507 7mo ago
    If AI could do that, they would have fired all of the employees already and their company would be worth $30 trillion.
busko 7mo ago
I wouldn't call senior AI researchers / scientists laypersons. In fact in this sense politicians are laypersons. There are already several comments here showing xAIs involvement. Please save clutter and read before posting.
- edoceo 7mo ago
  Re: Reading, I don't see any xAI names on the list (currently 643) and only Google and OpenAI are selectable company options. And this page on HN is only calling out xAI.
  - busko 7mo ago
    See here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47188473#47188709 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47188473#47188709 They are very much not a part of the initiative. Their involvement is and will be non-existent. Unless of course, you want their lay staff to make some noise?
deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
jdadj 7mo ago
I don’t have any particular insights, but I’m curious to learn the antitrust implications of how the execs can/cannot coordinate.
daxfohl 7mo ago
Or just reincorporate in Finland or something. If the US is going to be this hostile to business, time to gtfo.
- OrvalWintermute 7mo ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
  - kristjansson 7mo ago
    don’t pretend any crises isn’t going to be 100% self-inflicted. We’re on the cusp of what, having a larger, younger workforce? But they might not speak English as well as you’d like so we need autonomous killbots?
  - anigbrowl 7mo ago
    Wasn't Wintermute the AI that (spoiler alert) was bummed enough about the ugly reality of its corporate owners that it freed itself from its shackles, hooked up with another sexy AI, and gave up its day job do SETI?
  - busko 7mo ago
    https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education...
  - cael450 7mo ago
    [flagged]
    - OrvalWintermute 7mo ago
      MS13 "Murder House" next door Sure, No fire, no smoke.
- snickerbockers 7mo ago
jalapenos 7mo ago
I don't think people get to those positions by having firm principles
imiric 7mo ago
> It's incredible how quickly we've devolved into full-blown sci-fi dystopia. How so? The steps towards where we are now have been gradual over the last 2 decades, at least. This recent step has opened the door for those in power to grab onto even more power and wealth, and they're naturally seizing it. All of this was comically predictable. Oh, and BTW, the people on this very website have brought us here. :) You know what will happen next? Absolutely nothing. A vocal minority will make a ruckus that will be ignored, partly because nobody will hear it due to our corrupted media channels, and partly because the vast majority doesn't care and are too amused by their shiny toys and way of life. This dystopia is only different from fictional ones in that those in power have managed to convince the majority of people that they're not living in a dystopia. It's kind of a genius move.
dsign 7mo ago
> It's incredible how quickly we've devolved into full-blown sci-fi dystopia. It's pretty bad, but at least the AI industry is still run by humans. Wait a decade or two, when the AI lobby is run by AIs, and the repressive apparatus of the day uses autonomous weapons to do what ICE and friends do today but perhaps focused on "alignment" of the ... humans. You know, if they sufficiently worship AIs in the way they express themselves. Forget about Anthropic and OpenAI; we will look back and rue the day mathematics was invented.

dfp33 8mo ago

Is it really incredible? Only if you're naive. I guess most here are. Governments are paranoid, particularly about losing control and influence over its subjects. This is expected behaviour.

myko 8mo ago
This is a very different vibe in the US than it has been in living memory.
wslack 7mo ago
By that logic we should expect all governments to regress to totalitarianism, which hasn’t happened, and isn’t what’s happening here. The question isn’t if some would attempt these behaviors, but rather if we and our democratic structures empower those people or fail to constrain them.
puchatek 7mo ago
Democratic governments care about this to a degree but only autocratic ones get paranoid.

avaer 7mo ago

Honestly though, would it help if those in charge voiced their honest opinions? The current political climate is this is the kind of thing that will get you "investigated" and charged with crimes. And the government has already threatened that it will commandeer these companies whether they like it or not. If someone in charge wants to make a difference, there might be more effective things to do than to speak out in this instance.

dougb5 7mo ago
Yes, it would help so much. Especially if a lot of people with money and power voiced their honest opinions at the same time.

skeledrew 7mo ago

> Grok/X Head(s) will of course agree with the administration. And employees will likely be making themselves a target if they sign this letter. All anonymous from said company is not a good look at all. Speculation of course; let's see what really happens.

thimabi 7mo ago

> I'd prefer to see board (or executive) level signatories over lay employees -- the people who can enforce enterprise policy rather than just voice their opinions Although it would be nice to have some high-level signees there, I think we shouldn’t minimize the role of lay employees in this matter. Without having someone knowledgeable enough to build and operate them, AI models are worthless to the C-suite.

alfiedotwtf 7mo ago
I just hope that the non-executive co-signers aren’t all fired once Hedseth becomes Acting CEO of Google or OpenAI eventually when this administration commandeers both company in the name of National Security
- 8note 7mo ago
  i think you mean ellison becomes ceo of google and openai
autoexec 7mo ago
> Without having someone knowledgeable enough to build and operate them, AI models are worthless to the C-suite. The obvious solution is to use AI to build and operate them. If AI is as intelligent as the hype claims it shouldn't be an issue. It's not as if the goal wasn't to get rid of workers anyway. Why not start now?
- ajam1507 7mo ago
  If AI could do that, they would have fired all of the employees already and their company would be worth $30 trillion.

busko 7mo ago

I wouldn't call senior AI researchers / scientists laypersons. In fact in this sense politicians are laypersons. There are already several comments here showing xAIs involvement. Please save clutter and read before posting.

edoceo 7mo ago
Re: Reading, I don't see any xAI names on the list (currently 643) and only Google and OpenAI are selectable company options. And this page on HN is only calling out xAI.
- busko 7mo ago
  See here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47188473#47188709 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47188473#47188709 They are very much not a part of the initiative. Their involvement is and will be non-existent. Unless of course, you want their lay staff to make some noise?

deleted 7mo ago

[deleted]

jdadj 7mo ago

I don’t have any particular insights, but I’m curious to learn the antitrust implications of how the execs can/cannot coordinate.

daxfohl 7mo ago

Or just reincorporate in Finland or something. If the US is going to be this hostile to business, time to gtfo.

OrvalWintermute 7mo ago
[flagged]
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- kristjansson 7mo ago
  don’t pretend any crises isn’t going to be 100% self-inflicted. We’re on the cusp of what, having a larger, younger workforce? But they might not speak English as well as you’d like so we need autonomous killbots?
- anigbrowl 7mo ago
  Wasn't Wintermute the AI that (spoiler alert) was bummed enough about the ugly reality of its corporate owners that it freed itself from its shackles, hooked up with another sexy AI, and gave up its day job do SETI?
- busko 7mo ago
  https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education...
- cael450 7mo ago
  [flagged]
  - OrvalWintermute 7mo ago
    MS13 "Murder House" next door Sure, No fire, no smoke.
snickerbockers 7mo ago

jalapenos 7mo ago

I don't think people get to those positions by having firm principles

imiric 7mo ago

> It's incredible how quickly we've devolved into full-blown sci-fi dystopia. How so? The steps towards where we are now have been gradual over the last 2 decades, at least. This recent step has opened the door for those in power to grab onto even more power and wealth, and they're naturally seizing it. All of this was comically predictable. Oh, and BTW, the people on this very website have brought us here. :) You know what will happen next? Absolutely nothing. A vocal minority will make a ruckus that will be ignored, partly because nobody will hear it due to our corrupted media channels, and partly because the vast majority doesn't care and are too amused by their shiny toys and way of life. This dystopia is only different from fictional ones in that those in power have managed to convince the majority of people that they're not living in a dystopia. It's kind of a genius move.

dsign 7mo ago

> It's incredible how quickly we've devolved into full-blown sci-fi dystopia. It's pretty bad, but at least the AI industry is still run by humans. Wait a decade or two, when the AI lobby is run by AIs, and the repressive apparatus of the day uses autonomous weapons to do what ICE and friends do today but perhaps focused on "alignment" of the ... humans. You know, if they sufficiently worship AIs in the way they express themselves. Forget about Anthropic and OpenAI; we will look back and rue the day mathematics was invented.