Scale AI Founder Sounds Alarm: "AI Is China's Apollo Project" - Urges Pentagon To Act Swiftly

In a powerful warning to the Pentagon, Scale AI’s founder stressed the imperative for swift action in harnessing military data and embracing emerging technology, citing AI as China’s parallel to the Apollo project.

What Happened: During a hearing before the House Armed Services Subcommittee, Alexandr Wang, CEO of the San Francisco-based generative AI startup Scale AI, urged the Pentagon to expedite its efforts in capitalizing on military data and investing in cutting-edge technology. 

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China’s formidable strides in AI development have set off alarm bells in the U.S., with the nation’s investment in AI tools currently surpassing the American expenditure. Wang likens China’s commitment to AI as akin to the Apollo project that propelled the U.S. to the moon decades ago.

“The country that is able to most rapidly and effectively integrate new technology into war-fighting wins,” Wang said, adding, “AI is China’s Apollo project.” 

To stay ahead in the AI arms race, Wang pressed for the centralization of data to train AI models and a crucial upgrade of the workforce to ensure the U.S. military remains competitive.

Why It’s Important: On the same day, the 15-member UN Security Council addressed AI’s profound impact. The U.S. urged caution, stressing international cooperation to address human rights risks, while China emphasized careful regulation to prevent AI from becoming uncontrollable. 

Concerns about AI’s potential hazards have been echoed by figures like Elon Musk and OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman.

Last month, it was reported that in a meeting between Xi Jinping and Bill Gates, China’s President conveyed a willingness to embrace AI technology from the U.S.

In April this year, Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) former CEO Eric Schmidt shared similar sentiments as Wang when he disagreed with several U.S. tech experts, including Musk, who signed an “open letter” asking for a complete shutdown of AI developments “more powerful” than OpenAI’s GPT-4. 

At the time, he said such a step would “simply benefit China.” 

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