World Economic Forum 2024: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

OpenAI Made Sam Altman Famous. His Investments Made Him A Billionaire.


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>OpenAI—the company behind ChatGPT—is exploring ways for its popular generative artificial intelligence platform to be used in schools, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-explores-how-get-chatgpt-into-classrooms-2023-11-16/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a>, marking a new undertaking for the company that’s been criticized by some educators for enabling cheating.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer for OpenAI, said at a San Francisco conference last week that the company will likely create a team next year that will solely look into ways artificial intelligence can be used in education, Reuters reported.</p>



<p>Lightcap said at the conference that “most teachers are trying to figure out ways to incorporate (ChatGPT)” into how they teach, and that OpenAI is “trying to help them think through the problem.”</p>



<p>Artificial intelligence—and ChatGPT, specifically—have been criticized in the past for making it easier for students to cheat, even being&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/01/18/chatgpt-in-schools-heres-where-its-banned-and-how-it-could-potentially-help-students/?sh=ffd34456e2c6">banned</a>&nbsp;by some schools and districts earlier this year.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>85%. That’s how many students—out of those who were able to compare human tutoring to using AI—said ChatGPT was more effective than working with a real person,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/is-chatgpt-better-than-a-human-tutor-survey-says-yes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to Government Technology.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>ChatGPT was released mid-school year last November, and districts nationwide almost immediately began banning the generative AI platform out of cheating concerns. Students are able to use generative AI platforms to write essays and complete homework, though it wasn’t hard to catch, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/technology/ai-chatbot-study-aid.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to the New York Times, because of AI being in early stages and still “hallucinating,” or making things up. On Dec. 12, 2022, the nation’s second-largest district, Los Angeles Unified School District, became one of the first to block the site to “protect academic honesty,” though at the start of a new school year it introduced its own education-specific AI bot called “Ed” in about 100 schools, Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/23/chatgpt-ai-chatbots-in-classrooms-00111662" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. Other districts that banned it or limited access to the site <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/01/18/chatgpt-in-schools-heres-where-its-banned-and-how-it-could-potentially-help-students/?sh=ffd34456e2c6">included</a> New York City Public Schools and schools in Montgomery County, Alabama. Since the release of ChatGPT, though, OpenAI has worked to show its value in education. In the fall, OpenAI and nonprofit Khan Academy <a href="https://openai.com/customer-stories/khan-academy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> a partnership to create an “AI-powered assistant” available to Khan students that works as “both a virtual tutor for students and a classroom assistant for teachers.”</p>


In this photo illustration, the ChatGPT (OpenAI) logo is

OpenAI Exploring ChatGPT’s Potential In Classrooms—Despite Critics Saying AI Promotes Cheating, Report Says


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company that created ChatGPT, is in discussions about a potential share sale that would value it at $80 to $90 billion,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-seeks-new-valuation-of-up-to-90-billion-in-sale-of-existing-shares-ed6229e0?mod=e2tw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<em>Wall Street Journal</em>—about three times what it was valued in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/01/05/chatgpt-creator-openai-discussing-offer-valuing-company-at-29-billion-report-says/?sh=62fa761311e0">January</a>, as the AI race heats up.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>It’s expected that the deal will let employees sell their shares, instead of OpenAI issuing new ones, the&nbsp;<em>Journal</em>&nbsp;reported, citing multiple unnamed sources.</p>



<p>A valuation of $80 or $90 billion would make OpenAI—which is privately held—one of the highest valued startups, joining the ranks of TikTok owner ByteDance and SpaceX and surpassing companies like Shein and Canva.</p>



<p>OpenAI is positioned to earn more than $1 billion in revenue over the next year by selling access to a higher-quality version of ChatGPT and the technology behind it, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-track-generate-more-than-1-bln-revenue-over-12-months-information-2023-08-29/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;last month.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>OpenAI is backed largely by Microsoft, which owns 49% of the company, according to the&nbsp;<em>Journal</em>. Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/01/23/chatgpt-parent-open-ai-gets-game-changing-multibillion-dollar-boost-from-microsoft/?sh=4173fcd63c0c">expanded</a>&nbsp;its investment earlier this year when it put billions more into OpenAI, and it has begun integrating the company’s AI technology into its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/technology/microsoft-bing-openai-artificial-intelligence.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bing search engine</a>&nbsp;in a bid to compete with Google.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>ChatGPT—OpenAI’s chief product—launched last November and quickly became one of the most popular artificial intelligence programs. Within a week of its launch, the program attracted one million signed-up users who were able to use it for free while the product was in a “research preview” phase. People can still use ChatGPT for free, but OpenAI also offers ChatGPT+ for a $20 per month subscription fee. Beyond normal access to ChatGPT, subscribers get faster response times, are able to use the service even during peak times and get priority access to new features, according to its&nbsp;<a href="https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt-plus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>OpenAI backer Microsoft isn’t the only major tech company to invest in artificial intelligence. Google <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/03/21/google-releases-bard-ai-chatbot-amid-competition-with-chatgpt/?sh=769740e832b7">launched</a> its Bard AI chatbot earlier this year, and has <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/09/19/google-expands-ai-chatbot-bard-to-apps-like-gmail-drive-and-youtube/?sh=594736544905">begun integrating it</a> into services like Gmail and YouTube, while Amazon announced a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/09/25/amazon-plans-to-invest-up-to-4-billion-in-ai-startup-anthropic/?sh=7408d8aa30e0">$4 billion investment</a> in AI startup Anthropic on Monday.</p>


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OpenAI Made Sam Altman Famous. His Investments Made Him A Billionaire.

OpenAI Exploring ChatGPT’s Potential In Classrooms—Despite Critics Saying AI Promotes Cheating, Report Says

OpenAI Could Reach Massive $90 Billion Valuation With New Share Sales, Report Says