Nick Pickles, the former head of global affairs at Elon Musk’s social media platform X, is joining forces with one of Musk’s rivals, his fellow OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman.
Pickles, who resigned from X in September, told Reuters on Wednesday that he will serve as chief policy officer for Altman’s Tools for Humanity, the company building the technology to support World Network, formerly known as Worldcoin.
Pickles’s old boss, Musk, and his new boss, Altman, founded ChatGPT creator OpenAI together in 2015 but have since fallen out in a messy legal dispute.
World Network, which has faced scrutiny over its data collection, is ramping up efforts to scan people’s irises, using its “orb” devices, to create World ID.
The ID will serve as a digital passport to prove, in the online realm, that its holder is an actual human being as opposed to an AI bot.
Pickles told Reuters that AI is “on the cusp” of overtaking traditional online defenses to determine whether a user is a real person, such as Captcha puzzles. Once AI can blow through those barriers, trust on the web will further disintegrate.
“It’s imminent,” said Pickles. “Throughout my time at X and at Twitter, one of the consistent issues that kept coming up is, ‘Is this a real account or a bot?'” He added: “I saw every day how this issue is going to be central to the future of online interaction.”
During his 10 years at X, formerly known as Twitter, Pickles served most recently as the company’s top ambassador to heads of state across the globe. In that capacity, he worked closely with policymakers and regulators to shape regulatory proposals, negotiate compliance and represent the company in global forums.
He received a promotion at X in July.
One month later, billionaire Musk sued OpenAI and Altman for allegedly violating contract provisions that would have put the public good ahead of profits.
Pickles declined to comment on the litigation.
Pickles said he was optimistic about the new regulatory framework likely to be ushered in by the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
His first priority, he said, is hiring a lobbyist in Washington.
—Michelle Conlin, Reuters
Connectez-vous pour ajouter un commentaire
Autres messages de ce groupe
China’s Alibaba has developed a new chip that is more versatile than its older chips and is meant to serve a broader range of
Mount Fuji hasn’t erupted since 1707. But for Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day, Japanes
When an influencer gets married, it’s safe to assume much of the cost, from venue decor to personalized invitations, has been comped in exchange for content. Now brides with smaller, more modest f
Welcome, and thanks for reading this issue of Fast Company’s Plugged In.
On August 22, President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social that the U.S. federal government had acq
Some of the most ambitious cancer science is happening in a disease few outside of oncology can name, and it’s revealing a future where cancer is no longer a death sentence.
Multiple mye
Ever wonder what happens to the bags that never make it to baggage claim? Some of them are now turning up in influencers’ lost luggage hauls.
It’s every traveler’s nightmare: you land, b
For years, advocacy groups made it easy for Americans to weigh in on federal regulations. If a proposed rule threatened internet freedoms or environmental protections, organizations could set up s
