Artificial intelligence: How Sam Bankman Fried’s crypto empire collapsed

SAN FRANCISCO — In April, an artificial intelligence lab in San Francisco named Anthropic It raised $580 millionFor searches that include AI Security

Silicon Valley has not heard of the lab that develops AI systems that generate language. Venture capitalists have been investing in other AI startups because of the promise of big money, including the ones that are backed by some of the most experienced researchers in the field.

Round of led funding Sam Bankman FriedFounder and CEO, FTX, a cryptocurrency trading platform Filed bankruptcyLast month. After FTX sudden collapseYou can find more information at Leaked balance sheetIt was clear that Mr. Bankman Fried and his associates had given at most $500 million to Anthropic.

Their investment was part a quiet, imaginative effort in exploring and mitigating the dangers of artificial Intelligence, which many in Mr. Bankman Fred’s circle believe could eventually lead to the destruction of the world and the harm of humanity. Over the past two years, the 30-year-old entrepreneur and his colleagues at FTX have funneled more than $530 million — either through grants or investments — to more than 70 AI-related companies, academic labs, think tanks, independent ventures and individual researchers from around the world. According to The New York Times, the goal was to address concerns over the technology.

Four people close Amnesty’s efforts said that some of these individuals and organizations aren’t sure if they will be able to continue spending that money. They expressed concern that Mr. Bankman Fried’s downfall might cast doubt on their research, and threaten their reputation. Some AI startups and organizations could find themselves in FTX bankruptcy proceedings. There is the possibility of being awarded. I made upThey testified in court.

Unexpected fallout from the FTX collapse is creating fear in the artificial intelligence world. This shows how far the cascading effect of the cryptocurrency exchange crash, and Mr Bankman Fried’s fading fortune, have traveled.

“Some may be surprised by the relationship between these two emerging areas of technology,” Andrew Burt, Ph.D AttorneyHe is a Yale Law School visiting fellow who specializes in AI Risks. He has spoken about cryptocurrency and AI. “But underneath the surface, there are direct connections between the two.”

Mr. Fred, a banker facing investigation into the collapse of FTX, is being questioned. He spoke at the DealBook conference in The TimesHe declined to comment Wednesday. Anthropic declined comment on its investment in this company.

Mr. Bankman Fried’s efforts to influence artificial intelligence stem from his involvement with “effective altruismEffective altruists are often concerned about what they consider catastrophic risks, such pandemics, biological weaponry, and nuclear war.

They are particularly interested in artificial intelligence. While many influential people believe that AI is becoming more powerful, they worry that it could cause serious harm to the world if it is not done in a safe manner. While AI experts agree that any doomsday scenario remains a long way off — if it ever happens — effective altruists have long argued that such a future is just beyond the realm of possibility and that researchers, companies, and governments should prepare for it.

Many influential influencers have worked in top AI research labs over the past decade, including DeepMind which is owned and operated by Google parent company. Open AIElon Musk and other founders founded the company. They also helped to create the AI Security research area, which aims at exploring how AI systems can be misused to harm or malfunction unexpectedly.

Washington think tanks are able to conduct similar research through the assistance of effective influencers. The Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, which studies the effects of artificial intelligence and other technologies on national security, was largely funded by Open Philanthropy. This influential philanthropic organization is supported by Dustin Moskovitz, a Facebook co-founder. These think tanks also need researchers to help them become influential.

Since 2014, Mr. Bankman Fried has been involved in the effective altruism movement. Earn for Giving is a method that allows you to give back. he told The Times in AprilHe deliberately chose a lucrative job so that he could have more money.

He and several colleagues from FTX launched the Future Fund in February. It will help “ambitious projects to improve humanity’s long-term prospects.” Will MacAskill (founder of the Center for Effective Altruism) was the fund’s leader. Other key figures in the movement were also involved in the fund’s creation.

The Future Fund promised $160,000,000 to a wide range projects by September 1. This included research related to economic growth and pandemic preparedness. Around $30 million has been allocated for donations to a variety of organizations and individuals who are interested in ideas related to artificial intelligence.

$2 million was awarded to Lightcone Infrastructure, an obscure company, as part of the Future Fund’s AI grants. Lightcone is the operator of the online discussion site less wrongThis project was started in the mid-2000s to investigate the possibility of artificial intelligence destroying humanity.

Mr. Bankman Fried and his colleagues also fund several other efforts to reduce the long-term risk of AI. These include $1.25 million to assist with research. Alignment Research Center, an organization that aims at aligning future AI systems with human interest so that technology does not become evil. Cornell University also received $1.5 million to support similar research.

The Future Fund also donated nearly $6million to three projects involving “large-language models,” an increasingly powerful type of artificial intelligence that can help with decision making. Writing tweets, emails, and blog postsEven better! generating computer software. These grants are intended to improve the use of technology Spreading misleading informationThese systems are designed to reduce unwanted and unexpected behavior.

After FTX filed bankruptcy, Mr. MacAskill was running the Future Fund with others. ResignedThe project was halted by Mr. MacAskill, who cited “fundamental questions about legality and integrity business operations” as the reason. Mr. MacAskill didn’t respond to a request to comment.

Bankman-Fried, along with his colleagues, have invested directly in startups receiving $500 million in anthropic funding. The company was founded by influential influencers who quit OpenAI in 2021. It is developing its own language models to make AI safer. It cost tens of millions of dollars to build.

Some individuals and organizations have already received their money from Mr. Bankman Fried, his colleagues. Others received only a fraction of what was promised. According to the four people familiar, some are unsure if the grants should go back to FTX creditors.

Jason Lellen, a partner at Loeb & Loeb and a specialist in charities, said that charities are vulnerable to refunds if donors go bankrupt. While companies that receive venture capital through bankrupt companies may be in an easier position than charities, they are still susceptible to redemption claims.

Dewey Murdick is the director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology in Georgetown, which is supported by Open Philanthropy. He said that influential influencers have helped to fund important research on artificial intelligence.

“As funding has increased, so has interest in these issues,” he said, noting how there is more discussion about how to design AI systems with safety in mind.

Oren Etzioni, an artificial intelligence lab in Seattle, stated that the views of effective altruism communities were sometimes extreme and that they often made technology seem more powerful or dangerous than they really were.

The Future Fund offered him money to conduct research to help predict the dangers and arrival of artificial general intelligence, a machine capable of doing everything a human brain can do. Etzioni explained that this idea can’t be reliably predicted as scientists don’t know how it is built.

He said, “These are smart, honest individuals who are putting dollars in a very speculative endeavor.”