Compelling Look at the Rise of AI and the Giants Behind It

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Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World by Parmy Olson

“A clear and compelling read about one of the most consequential races in the world — the invention of artificial general intelligence — filled with surprising and juicy details about the powerful men at the heart of it. The deep research in Supremacy reveals startling news and facts as yet unreported about two of the world’s most scrutinized companies,” says Madhumita Murgia, AI editor of the Financial Times and author of Code Dependent.

By now, the whole world has heard about AI and ChatGPT — many have even used it for themselves. This chatbot — more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search — was born out of an intense rivalry between the CEOs of the world’s two leading AI Firms: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind.

The behind-the-scenes battle for AI control has remained elusive until now. now. In Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World, technology columnist at Bloomberg Parmy Olson explores the competitive battle between tech giants Microsoft and Google as the firms helping them were determined to use AI for good.

Rooted in Olson’s reporting on the technology industry for the last 14 years and drawing on hundreds of sources and interviews with people in the industry — including tech billionaires, high-ranking executives, and the CEOs of OpenAI and DeepMind themselves — Supremacy highlights the threats that artificial intelligence brings, which are often ignored by its creators. From a consolidation of power to a profit-driven spread of technology wrought with flaws and errors, to the infiltration of that tech into multiple industries, Olson highlights areas that need more attention in the field.

One of the greatest inventions in human history is being exploited — and it has the ability to impact us all. Will we continue to use this technology for good, or are the risks continuing to grow out of our control?

Photo by Kim Farinha

Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and former reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. She is the author of We Are Anonymous and a recipient of the Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity Cannon Award. Her reporting on Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp and the subsequent fallout resulted in two honorable mentions in the SABEW business journalism awards. At the Wall Street Journal, she was the first to report on a secret effort at Google’s top AI lab to break away from the company. Supremacy expands on the dramatic events that led to that incident.