OpenAI launches a program to award 10 grants of $100K to develop proof-of-concepts for a “democratic process” to set rules for AI “within the bounds” of the law

OpenAI says it's launching a program to award ten $100,000 grants to fund experiments in setting …

TechCrunch 2023-05-26 Kyle Wiggers

Context & Ripple Effects

OpenAI put public participation into its alignment agenda by funding small-scale tests of how collective preferences could inform AI behavior while remaining subject to law. The effort later surfaced as Democratic Inputs to AI, with 10 teams receiving $100,000 each to develop governance ideas and tools.

The program also foreshadowed OpenAI's Collective Alignment team, which was tasked with collecting and applying public input to model behavior. It frames governance not only as external regulation, but as a product and research function inside the lab.

First-order effects

Ten prospective grantees can test concrete mechanisms for gathering and translating public input into AI-rule proposals, rather than limiting the debate to principles.
OpenAI gains a portfolio of governance prototypes and external researchers working on a problem it has defined: public input constrained by existing law.

Second-order effects

The results create pressure on other AI developers to show how user and public preferences affect model policy, not just to publish high-level safety commitments.
Governance researchers and civic-technology groups gain a funded route into AI development, while the practical question shifts to which inputs can be operationalized in model rules.

Third-order effects

If such pilots become embedded in model-development workflows, AI governance could increasingly combine public consultation with company-controlled implementation and legal constraints.
That model may clarify participation methods, but it also leaves a durable institutional question: whether consultation meaningfully shares decision-making power or primarily informs developers' choices.

The trend: This is an early instance of AI labs turning democratic input from a policy aspiration into an operational component of alignment and model governance.

Discussion

@openai @openai on x
We're launching ten $100,000 grants for building prototypes of a democratic process for steering AI. Our goal is to fund experimentation with methods for gathering nuanced feedback from everyone on how AI should behave. Apply by June 24, 2023: https://openai.com/...
@metaviv Aviv Ovadya on x
This is going to be interesting! @OpenAI has stepped up to be a first mover on exploring democratic decision-making with (& for) AI. We urgently need governance at the speed of technological change and I hope this can be a useful step in that direction. /1 https://openai.com/...
@tristanharris Tristan Harris on x
Really enjoyed my conversation with @divyasiddarth - whose work on participatory democracy also helped drive this collaboration with OpenAI announced today on “democratic inputs” to AI. https://openai.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@glenweyl @glenweyl on x
Exciting and important announcement from the @OpenAI for the Plurality community! https://openai.com/...
@darrenpjones Darren Jones MP on x
“Democratising the development of AI.” Someone should write about the pros and cons of participative democracy in trying to steer the development of a country and compare the two. 👇 https://twitter.com/...
@punk6529 @punk6529 on x
DAO and discord should handle it, no? 😉 https://twitter.com/...
@gdb Greg Brockman on x
Parallel experiments in democratic decision-making for how an AI should behave: https://twitter.com/...
@stefanfschubert Stefan Schubert on x
I guess that if you want a democratic process a natural approach is to use the established one; i.e. the government. (Though it need not exclude other approaches.) https://twitter.com/...
@ourielohayon @ourielohayon on x
this is smart. in crypto they would maybe do a DAO for this, but tbh this is not so necessary https://twitter.com/...
@sama Sam Altman on x
grants for ideas about how to democratically decide on the behavior of AI systems: https://twitter.com/...
@chloe21e8 @chloe21e8 on x
The real payload carried by artificial intelligence is universal digital capitalism. AI is an optimization algorithm, and it will always see the best solution being capitalistic self-organization— not democracy. This is akin to setting Geneva Conventions for an Alien Invasion. ht…
@sama Sam Altman on x
great meetings today in warsaw, paris, and london. and...since i was out of the US, i finally got signed up for worldcoin! [image]
@marvinvonhagen Marvin von Hagen on x
Sam Altman just asked students at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) who thinks that OpenAI should start open sourcing models like GPT-5 on day one. Lots of hands were raised, and @sama responded “woah, we're definitely not gonna do that, but that's interesting to know” [im…
@ylecun Yann LeCun on x
Well, obviously. Everyone wants open source base models except a few folks in Silicon Valley, a handful of AI doomers, and whoever they manage to scare in governments, https://twitter.com/...
@emmanuelmacron Emmanuel Macron on x
Developing talents and technologies in France, acting for regulation at the French, European and global levels, these are our priorities in terms of artificial intelligence. We discussed this with Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT. [image]
@rishisunak Rishi Sunak on x
Done safely and securely, AI has the potential to be transformational and grow the economy. This evening I met with @sama, @demishassabis and @AnthropicAI's Dario Amodei to discuss how the UK can provide international leadership on AI. [image]
@karlbode Karl Bode on x
Mike had a good post on Altman's recent performance before Congress: https://www.techdirt.com/...
@danmurrayserter Dan on x
Wow, gpt4 even making physical travel way more efficient too 👏 https://twitter.com/...
@sama Sam Altman on x
had a great first week of the openai world tour in toronto, DC, rio, lagos, and lisbon. fun to see what people are building and get (lots of) feature requests, and even fun to talk to policymakers! madrid, warsaw, paris, london, and munich this week. [image]
@drkatedevlin Kate Devlin on x
OpenAI are in town on their publicity drive, with Sam Altman speaking at UCL today, and not everyone is impressed! [image]
@sama Sam Altman on x
@paulo170595 @SimonFounder flew to paris, took the eurostar to london
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
“I think Sam Altman is probably someone with a Messiah Complex who wants to push humanity to the precipice.” [image]
@mircomusolesi Mirco Musolesi on x
There were some worries that nobody was going to show up for Sam Altman's talk, but strangely enough that was not the case. [video]
@tomsbristow Tom Bristow on x
Spent the afternoon in a sweaty @ucl lecture hall listening to Sam Altman's v. positive take on the future that awaits us if we get AI right. My piece for POLITICO here: https://pro.politico.eu/...
@doubleeph @doubleeph on x
Something I heard Sam Altman say in Lagos was that they built ChatGPT to let people see how far AI technology had come. Been thinking of the alternative scenario where they don't build a conversational interface and Ai tech just starts popping up everywhere...
@davidiadeleke David I. Adeleke on x
One thing that stood out to me during the Q&A with Sam Altman in Lagos was his statement that Nigeria is the biggest adopter of OpenAI products on the continent. Makes me wonder how many ChatGPT (and DALL-E?) users we have in the country, and what the most common use cases are.
@tychobrahe Tycho Brahe on x
This is a quote from Sam Altman, during an interview about OpenAI. I think his model of the world is missing a few things. [image]
@justin_hart Justin Hart on x
Some folks over in London were protesting OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event... so I thought it only appropriate to use an AI tool to turn them into clowns. [video]
@gfuterman Gideon Futerman on x
Sam Altman kindly took the time to talk to us, and this reinforced my image of him: a man who is friendly, passionate and genuinely believes he is on a mission to save humanity. [image]
@fabiochiusi Fabio Chiusi on x
“He said he wanted to see “something between the traditional European approach and the traditional US approach.” That is, a bit of regulation but not too much” https://www.theverge.com/...
@joehas Joe Haslam on x
Report on Sam Altman's visit to @UCL where he was interviewed by @azeem. Sam was met with protestors concerned with the risks of AGI and he spoke with them. https://www.theverge.com/...
@jennifercobbe Jennifer Cobbe on x
I feel like everything Altman says about AI regulation needs to be accompanied with: Well, he would say that https://twitter.com/...
@mhbergen Mark Bergen on x
Sam Altman speaking to sold out crowd at UCL. He mentions Elon as a “mentor” who has been “very helpful.” (Then no follow up question!) [image]
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is on a mini world tour, talking up the benefits of AI and the need for regulation (but not too much). He spoke in London today, while protestors called for pause on the development of hypothetical AGI systems. Here's my report: https://www.theverge.com/... …
@smokeawayyy @smokeawayyy on x
Sam Altman: “I think we have lost our collective sense of optimism about the future... I think all of us should act as our duty to bring that back... The only way that I know to return to that sense of optimism...is to use technology to create abundance.” [video]
@sama Sam Altman on x
very productive week of conversations in europe about how to best regulate AI! we are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave.
@thierrybreton Thierry Breton on x
There is no point in attempting blackmail — claiming that by crafting a clear framework, Europe is holding up the rollout of generative #AI. To the contrary! With the “AI Pact” I proposed, we aim to assist companies in their preparation to EU AI Act 🇪🇺 [Gif: Is that a threat?]
@sama Sam Altman on x
had a great meeting with Chancellor Scholz this morning and a fun talk at TUM this afternoon, and finally enjoying a quiet moment in a beautiful city [image]
@gregbensinger @gregbensinger on x
AI execs: We need guardrails around AI. Please regulate us. Regulators: Got it, how about this? AI execs: Whoa whoa, not like that! https://www.reuters.com/...
@dw2 David Wood on x
“Don't build AGI. It's the greatest threat to the continued existence of humanity” - a small student demonstration marks the visit of Sam Altman to UCL yesterday. Two hand-made signs today; perhaps more in the near future? https://time.com/... [image]
@marietjeschaake Marietje Schaake on x
That didn't take long.... 🤦🏼‍♀ ️I guess it's easy to call on Congress for regulation not expecting much to happen ↘️ https://giftarticle.ft.com/...
@fooyunchee Foo Yun Chee on x
Exclusive: AI rules ‘cannot be bargained’, EU's Breton says after OpenAI CEO threat https://www.reuters.com/... @reuters @EUReuters @ReutersTech @ReutersBiz @ReutersLegal @thomsonreuters
@shashj Shashank Joshi on x
‘OpenAI chief Sam Altman has warned that Brussels’ efforts to regulate artificial intelligence could lead the maker of ChatGPT to pull its services from the EU, in the starkest sign yet of a growing transatlantic rift' https://www.ft.com/...
@taraocomics Tara O'Connor on x
Imagine stamping your feet over having to disclose who you're stealing from. 👀 https://twitter.com/... [image]
@rachelcoldicutt @rachelcoldicutt on x
I love it when a tech company says, “If you're going to regulate me then I won't play anymore”. It's like the Mean Girls School of Diplomacy in wch everyone competes to be the first person to stop being friends. https://www.reuters.com/...
@sarahoconnor_ Sarah O'Connor on x
Shot/chaser [image]
@lukolejnik Lukasz Olejnik on x
So it begins? The head of OpenAI warns against too strong AI regulations in Europe. The point is that these will be softer in the US. Firms are OK with regulations, ethics, so on, just not too much of it. He warns about withdrawing from Europe. https://www.ft.com/... [image]
@nicholasvinocur Nicholas Vinocur on x
“The current (EU) draft of the AI Act would be over-regulating, but we hear they might be pulling it back.” - Sam Altman https://www.reuters.com/...
@floridi @floridi on x
I told you: staggering hypocrisy. The surprise is actually the number of people who believed him (remember the letter?) when he said he wanted AI to be regulated: “OpenAI may leave the EU if regulations bite - CEO” https://www.reuters.com/...
@michaelaarouet Michael A. Arouet on x
While others embrace OpenAI the EU is committed to keep Europe on track to become OpenAIR museum. https://twitter.com/...
@drfranksauer @drfranksauer on x
„⁦@sama⁩ said on Wednesday the ChatGPT maker might consider leaving Europe if it could not comply with the upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) regulations by the European" https://www.reuters.com/...
@billyperrigo Billy Perrigo on x
Also newsy in this piece: Altman told me that in 2024 he plans to become much more vocal on the need for post-AI wealth redistribution https://time.com/... [image]
@shashj Shashank Joshi on x
‘The new [EU] requirement would make the companies that develop the models, including OpenAI & Google, partly responsible for how their AI systems are used, even if they have no control over the particular applications the technology has been embedded in.’ https://www.ft.com/...
@fabiochiusi Fabio Chiusi on x
Altman: “please regulate us!” Also Altman: “if you actually regulate us we may leave the EU” https://www.reuters.com/...
@billyperrigo Billy Perrigo on x
🚨 New: Sam Altman says OpenAI could “cease operating” in Europe if it is unable to comply with the forthcoming AI act, which he said OpenAI has “a lot” of criticisms of https://time.com/...

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