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

"Yes, she’s a Bloomberg columnist. In her columns, she has written about the subject of this book, which is the battle between Demis Hassabis, the founder of DeepMind, now part of Google, and Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, which is strongly allied with Microsoft. It’s about their rivalry to find a way to apply generative AI—and AI more generally—in a world-changing way. Her line is that Altman and Hassabis had a vision of a world-altering technology, and the ability to bring it into being, but that they have been corralled by corporate interests so that it’s become a commercial product. And of course, this has been borne out with OpenAI. Last month, we had further evidence that Sam Altman and OpenAI are pushing fast down the for-profit commercial route, and that’s been the cause, certainly at OpenAI, of quite a lot of the rifts that Parmy Olson chronicles in Supremacy . So it’s a book in the moment, a journalistic investigation with a broader warning about the risk of putting AI in the service of commercial interests. In terms of lack of safeguards, it means greater risks and, overall, the loss of an idealistic vision of AI as something that can make the world a better place. Her starting point is that both Hassabis and Altman made a leap. Obviously, they had the ability to develop AI with their teams and, for a long time, they thought that it would be something that should be serving wider humanity—improving productivity, making life better, sparking creativity and so on, all those good things. But once the Googles and Microsofts of this world got their eyes on the wider commercial prize, it became harder for them to stick to that line. Now I don’t follow this closely but some of the things that have been happening in the last few months suggest that certainly Sam Altman has his eye on a commercial prize as well, and that’s been the cause of these rifts and disputes that have emerged at OpenAI. Somebody did point out to me that although Google and Microsoft are the commercial protagonists in this book, there are competitors out there. There are other gen AI models and the very speed with which AI startups are developing does offset the risk of it becoming an oligopoly ."

"Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olson is a gripping narrative about the intense competition among the world’s leading artificial intelligence labs to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI). The book focuses on the high-stakes race between organizations like OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic, as they push the boundaries of what AI can achieve while grappling with its profound ethical and societal implications. Olson brings readers behind the scenes, offering rare insights into the people, technologies, and philosophies driving this race. The book traces the evolution of generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT, and examines their transformative impact on industries ranging from healthcare to creative arts. Through interviews with key players and vivid storytelling, Olson captures the human dynamics—ambition, collaboration, and rivalries—that fuel innovation in this fast-moving field. A central theme of the book is the tension between progress and risk. As these companies develop increasingly powerful AI systems, they must confront questions about safety, alignment, and control. Olson explores pivotal moments when these labs faced ethical dilemmas and technological challenges, shedding light on the risks of deploying advanced AI in a world where regulation often lags behind innovation. What makes Supremacy particularly important is its timeliness. The book doesn’t just celebrate AI’s achievements; it critically examines the societal consequences of handing over decision-making power to machines. Olson highlights concerns about misinformation, job displacement, and the concentration of power in the hands of a few influential labs. She also raises the question of whether the rush to develop AGI is driven more by corporate competition than by thoughtful consideration of its broader impact on humanity. The Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award underscores the book’s significance as a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, business, and ethics. Supremacy is not just a story about technological innovation; it’s a cautionary tale about the choices we make as we stand on the brink of a transformative era in human history."