A former OpenAI worker says he quit the company after realizing that it was putting safety on the back burner to pursue profit. During a recent episode of tech YouTuber Alex Kantrowitz’s podcast, former Superalignment team member William Saunders used an apt analogy to explain why he left. “I really didn’t want to end up working for the Titanic of AI, and so that’s why I resigned,” he said. “During my three years at OpenAI, I would sometimes ask myself a question. Was the path that OpenAI was on more like the Apollo program or more like the Titanic?” Saunders argued that the Titanic may have been called “unsinkable, but at the same time there weren’t enough lifeboats for everyone and so when disaster struck, a lot of people died.” The former employee accused OpenAI of “prioritizing getting out newer, shinier products,” just like White Star Line, the now-defunct British shipping company that built the doomed Titanic. His comments highlight growing concerns over companies like OpenAI developing AI systems that are capable of superseding the abilities of humans, an idea dubbed artificial general intelligence (AG) — something that currently remains entirely theoretical, but is a source of great interest to executives like OpenAI’s Sam Altman. We’ve already seen several other former employees coming forward, accusing leadership of turning a blind eye to these concerns and stifling oversight. OpenAI’s commitment to safety is also shaky as far as its ever-shifting corporate structure is concerned. Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman…OpenAI Researcher Says He Quit When He Realized the Upsetting Truth