November rundown: Generative AI generates drama
The UK's AI Safety Summit and OpenAI's upheaval marked a month of intense scrutiny for AI


It’s been a whirlwind month, and not in the way that one might have predicted. Opening with the UK’s AI Safety Summit and ending with the anniversary of ChatGPT, November was already set to be a big month for the field of AI, particularly when it came to global legislation.
As the month progressed, it turned out that November had even more planned, in the form of a huge upheaval at OpenAI.
In this episode, Jane and Rory look at some of the standout moments of November 2023 and draw a line between them all to pick out a trend for the month.
Highlights
“Government ministers were championing this as an example of collaboration of international cooperation on AI. But if you're talking about tangible results, I think it's more of a mixed picture from the AI Summit.”
“For all the benefits of having your own in-house AI shop, your own AI team led by Altman, it is good for Microsoft to have a bit of distance between itself and OpenAI.”
“Salesforce was apparently offering OpenAI researchers full cash as equity OTE if they joined Salesforce’s Einstein Trusted AI research team. So there are not a lot of people out there with these skills – OpenAI has not imploded, but had it done I think everybody would have been fine.”
Footnotes
- UK aims to be an AI leader with November safety summit
- Can the UK's AI Safety Summit succeed?
- Bletchley Declaration draws cautious approval
- The UK's hollow AI Safety Summit has only emphasized global divides
- Rishi Sunak’s stance on AI goes against the demands of businesses
- Sam Altman joins Microsoft to lead new “advanced AI research team”
- OpenAI chaos: What next for Sam Altman and the beleaguered tech darling?
- Sam Altman makes triumphant return to OpenAI after days of chaos
- Salesforce looks to poach outbound OpenAI staff with "full cash" compensation offer
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Rory Bathgate is Features and Multimedia Editor at ITPro, overseeing all in-depth content and case studies. He can also be found co-hosting the ITPro Podcast with Jane McCallion, swapping a keyboard for a microphone to discuss the latest learnings with thought leaders from across the tech sector.
In his free time, Rory enjoys photography, video editing, and good science fiction. After graduating from the University of Kent with a BA in English and American Literature, Rory undertook an MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies at King’s College London. He joined ITPro in 2022 as a graduate, following four years in student journalism. You can contact Rory at rory.bathgate@futurenet.com or on LinkedIn.
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