- Legendary tech investor Vinod Khosla has warned of a significant risk from China using AI bots to influence the upcoming U.S. elections.
- Khosla believes that concerns over AI causing an apocalypse are overblown and that the bigger risk is from countries such as China utilizing AI for nefarious purposes.
- Khosla supports the Biden administration’s decision to cut off exports of advanced chips and AI software to China.
- As one of the early investors in OpenAI, Khosla dismissed recent boardroom tumult at the company, stating it is better off today than it was a month ago.
Vinod Khosla, the renowned tech investor and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, voiced his concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) by China at the recently held Fortune Brainstorm AI 2023 in San Francisco. He warned of the high likelihood of China deploying millions of persuasive AI bots to influence U.S. elections.
While Khosla acknowledged that powerful technologies like AI and biotechnology carry inherent risks, he emphasized that these risks are often overblown. He argued that the threat of sentient AI bringing about an apocalypse is akin to the risk of an asteroid destroying the planet, and believes the press has amplified these risks due to their sci-fi nature.
On the contentious issue of the U.S. restricting trade with China, Khosla expressed his wholehearted agreement with the Biden administration’s tough stance. He endorsed the decision to stop exporting advanced chips and AI software to China to mitigate potential threats.
As an early investor in OpenAI, Khosla also addressed recent alterations in the company’s board. Dismissing the upheaval as not very instructive, he criticized the now-ousted board members for following the “wrong religion” instead of making rational decisions. He affirmed that the company is now in a much better position than it was a month ago.
