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Former OpenAI Board Member: US Targets Science and Research While Criticizing ‘Big Gifts’ to China in AI Development

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The former OpenAI board member, Helen Toner, commented that the US administration’s focus on academic research and its approach to international students is “a tremendous gift” to China in the competition surrounding artificial intelligence.

Toner, who serves as the Strategic Director of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), joined OpenAI’s board in 2021 following a career dedicated to analyzing AI and the dynamics between the US and China.

At 33 years old, Toner—an alumna of the University of Melbourne—was part of the board for two years until she left alongside founder Sam Altman in 2023. There were concerns regarding Altman’s communication consistency and the board’s confidence in his leadership.


In the following tumultuous month, Altman was initially dismissed and then reinstated, while three board members, including Toner, were sidelined. Their situation has become the subject of an upcoming film, and along with the film’s director Luca Guadagnino, they have reportedly met in person.

According to Time Magazine, Toner was recognized as one of the top 100 most influential figures in AI for 2024, a testament to her advocacy for AI regulation by policymakers worldwide.

At CSET, Toner leads a team of 60 researchers focusing on AI applications for white papers aimed at briefing policymakers, particularly in military, labor, biosecurity, and cybersecurity contexts.

“My primary focus is on the intersections of AI, safety and security issues, the Chinese AI landscape, and what is termed frontier AI,” explained Toner.

Toner expressed concern that the US may fall behind China in the AI race. Although US export controls on chips complicate China’s access to competitive computing power, the country is making substantial strides in AI, illustrated by the surprising success of its generative AI model, Deepseek, earlier this year.

Toner criticized the Trump administration’s research cuts and international student bans as being “gifts” to China in the AI competition with the US.

“It’s undeniably a significant gift for China. The current US approach to attacking scientific research and the talents of foreigners—a considerable part of the US workforce comprises immigrants, many from China—is a boon for them in this contest,” she remarked.

The AI boom has raised alarms about job security, with concerns that AI may replace many human jobs. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, which developed the generative AI model Claude, recently stated that AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs, potentially leading to a 20% unemployment rate over the next five years.

Though Toner acknowledged Amodei’s predictions, she noted, “While I often find his assertions directionally correct, they tend to sound overly aggressive in timelines and figures,” but she agreed that disruptions in the job market are already occurring.

“The current capabilities of [language model-based AI] are best suited for small, manageable tasks rather than long-term projects that require human oversight,” she advised.

Experts suggest that organizations heavily invested in AI are feeling pressure to demonstrate returns on their investments. Toner remarked that while practical applications of AI can yield considerable value, it remains unclear which business models or players will successfully unlock that value.

The integration of AI services could range from enhancing existing applications, such as a phone keyboard that transcribes voices, to standalone chatbots, but she remarked that it’s still uncertain what role AI will ultimately play.

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Toner noted that the push for profitability presents risks that could overshadow the advancement race in AI.


“This reflects how companies are weighed down by the need to balance between rapid product releases and the thorough testing needed to implement additional safety measures that could also complicate user experience,” she elaborated.

“Such companies must make these trade-offs while feeling the pressure to accelerate as much as possible.”

Toner voiced her concerns regarding the concept of a “progressive power” of AI, which suggests gradual integration of AI systems into various societal and governmental facets; acknowledging it may be too late to reevaluate this path.

She expressed optimism regarding AI’s potential to enhance scientific research, drug discovery, and autonomous driving solutions like Waymo, which could significantly reduce road fatalities.

“With AI, the goal isn’t perfection; it’s to exceed existing alternatives. In the automotive sector, the alternative involves thousands of annual deaths. If we can improve that scenario, it’s remarkable; countless lives could be saved,” she articulated.

Toner humorously mentioned that a friend suggested potential actresses to portray her in the film.

“One suggestion was a stunningly talented actress,” she said. “Anyone they choose will definitely be a worthy pick.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Member states do not provide enough support for EU interim agreement on gig worker rights

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The Christmas present for the EU’s precarious gig workers can’t come soon enough: a political agreement announced in the middle of this month aims to strengthen the rights of platform workers across the European Union by establishing a legal presumption of employment. However, it does not have the support of the necessary qualified majority among the people. Dear Member States, that is clear today.

A quick update to the European Council online press release had promoted previous political dealings on file, the agency wrote.[O]On December 22, 2023, the Spanish Presidency concluded that it was not possible to reach the necessary majority for a provisional agreement among the representatives of the Member States (Coreper). The Belgian Presidency will resume negotiations with the European Parliament to reach an agreement on the final form of the directive. “

This development was previously covered bloomberg and Euractic — reported that the deal failed to secure a qualified majority at core par on Friday.

Euractic cited information that the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary and Italy had “formally said no to the deal they believe in”, adding: “As it became clear that a majority would not be reached, the document There was not even a formal vote taken.” It was too far removed from the board’s directives. “

France has been cited as being at the forefront of resistance to the deal announced mid-month by exhausted parliamentary negotiators, with parliamentary co-representatives also on file. Blaming French President Emmanuel Macron for opposition to deal Early this month.

Depending on the changes requested by the blocking Member States, the file could be forced back into the EU’s tripartite legislative negotiation process known as the Trilogue, where the European Parliament, Council and Commission The co-legislators will have to try again. To find a compromise that they can all agree on.

However, with European elections looming, there will be the added complication of tight deadlines if the Estates-General has to reconvene in January.

Unless a way can be found to move this file forward in the coming months, gig worker labor reform will be at the mercy of reconfigured political priorities under the new European Commission and Parliament. It is likely that the current system will lean even further to the right.

In a thread posted on He then announced on December 13 that an agreement had been reached on the platform worker file, and he blamed the Conservative and Liberal governments for blocking the reforms.

“The Spanish Council Presidency has reached an agreement with the support of all political groups in the country. [the European] Parliament other than the far right,” he also wrote [translated from Spanish using AI]. “This directive is inspired by the directive known as the Lidar Law, which came into force in Spain on August 12, 2021.”

“This pioneering regulation at international level, which positions the EU as a leader in a just digital transition, must continue to be discussed in the next Belgian Presidency, based on the agreement reached by the Spanish Presidency and the European Parliament.” he said. Added. “Spain and the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy will continue to defend an ambitious directive that truly improves the situation of workers on digital platforms.”

Congressional negotiators said at a press conference earlier this month to announce a tentative agreement on the file that estimates of the employment relationship between gig workers and platforms are among a list of five “indicators of control or direction.” He said it will be triggered if two of these conditions are met. However, he declined to provide details on what these standards would be.

Opposition to the deal is likely to focus on this element of the reform, with reports suggesting that bloc member states are seeking to raise the threshold before employment estimates begin.

Asked about this, a council spokesperson told TechCrunch: “We acknowledge that the disagreement centers on the issue of legal presumption.”

The council’s position is that came back in june, At least three of the seven criteria set out in the Directive had to be met for the employment presumption to be triggered. An interim agreement (now unsuccessful) had lowered the threshold to two out of five levels. However, the agreement announced earlier this month also allowed member states to expand the list of criteria, so disabled people are likely to only have two criteria to trigger employment presumptions instead of three. .

Lawmakers who touted the deal earlier this month called it “historic” and “ambitious” and said it “shifts the burden of proof” and burdens on precarious gig workers. It suggested that this would prevent them from being “incorrectly considered to be self-employed”. Prove on the platform that the employee is truly self-employed.

Source: techcrunch.com