Empire of AI

When Karen Hao, a seasoned AI specialist and journalist, started her coverage of OpenAI in 2019, she initially perceived them as the heroes of the tech world. OpenAI was launched as a nonprofit organization, with its primary mission centered around safety—an aspect its leader, Sam Altman, claimed would serve as a counterbalance to the relentless drive of market competition. However, the truth about this rapidly evolving and disruptive industry is that it demands exceptional levels of proprietary resources: high-end chips with immense computing power, vast amounts of data collected on a massive scale, and underpaid laborers in the Global South working hard to make sense of the data. This industry also exhibits a worrisome increase in the consumption of energy and water. We’re witnessing the dawn of a new era where OpenAI is moving at a swift pace, with a few of the most powerful companies in history racing to keep up. Through dynamic storytelling and unmatched access to sources close to Sam Altman, Hao narrates the rapid ascent of OpenAI and exposes the disturbing effects this field has on society.