Dominance of tech giants
Mozilla boss: AI oligopoly can still be stopped
October 15, 2023, 3:04 p.m
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Will only large IT companies such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook set the tone for the development of artificial intelligence in the future? Mozilla boss Baker is optimistic. Despite the current superiority of the tech giants, she still sees opportunities to avoid strengthening the oligopoly.
The head of the free software project Mozilla, Mitchell Baker, has urgently warned against leaving the development of artificial intelligence solely in the hands of a few tech giants. “It is extremely important that the training data and the results of the new AI functions can be controlled by individual users and companies and are not centrally controlled by a few large companies,” said Baker in Berlin. The software project, which includes the web browser Firefox, celebrated its 25th anniversary in the German capital at the weekend.
Artificial intelligence is likely to be the defining technology of the current generation, just as the Internet has fundamentally and forever changed the world. “What we’ve seen over the past year only scratches the surface of what’s possible.” AI capabilities are being used in more and more products and user experiences, Baker said.
The benefits of the Internet have reached billions of people by not allowing one or two large companies to dominate the market. “Still, looking back, there are many decisions that would have done even more to protect competition and privacy, and with AI we have the opportunity to make better decisions today.” It is now possible to avoid these systems becoming trapped in a few confined environments. “We can develop regulations that provide greater transparency and accountability.”
Open source offerings are intended to avoid oligopoly
The development of artificial intelligence is currently being driven primarily by large IT companies in the USA. Microsoft, for example, has entered into a close alliance with the leading AI startup OpenAI and offers AI functions in its browser Bing, its Office and cloud programs. Google has countered this push with its own AI program Bard. The leading AI companies also include the Facebook group Meta, the software company Adobe and the AI chip expert Nvidia.
At the weekend’s celebrations, Baker pointed to a number of “massive open source activities” that could be used to avoid strengthening the oligopoly. For example, you can’t keep up with Microsoft’s billions in investments. We are now experimenting with small models that can also be run on a laptop or phone. “These are big changes.”