Microsoft forms superintelligence team under AI chief Mustafa Suleyman
What's the story
Microsoft has announced the formation of a new team dedicated to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research. The MAI Superintelligence Team will be led by Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of the Microsoft AI group that includes Bing and Copilot assistant. Suleyman, who co-founded DeepMind and led AI start-up Inflection, was hired by Microsoft last year along with other Inflection employees.
Team objectives
MAI Superintelligence team won't pursue generalist AI
Suleyman has clarified that the MAI Superintelligence Team won't be pursuing generalist AI like some of its competitors. Instead, it will focus on specialist models to solve concrete problems with virtually no existential risk. The team's goal is "humanist superintelligence," or technology that could solve defined problems with a real-world benefit, such as improving healthcare and detecting diseases early on.
Research focus
Suleyman clarifies what the team is not doing
The new Microsoft AI research group will also explore narrow areas in medicine and renewable energy production. Suleyman emphasized that the team is not building a superintelligence at any cost or with no limits. He wants to make it clear that they are not after an "ill-defined and ethereal superintelligence," but a practical technology explicitly designed only to serve humanity.