Pundit ClaimsAI claims by Gary Marcus and Ed Zitron, with the evidence

Gary Marcus Marcus on AI Published

OpenAI’s Lies and Half-Truths

We recorded 8 claims from this post. 5 were checked against evidence. 3 can’t be checked. 4 more are held. Read the post at its source.

Claims from this post (8)

In the order they appear in the post. Each quotation is the speaker’s words in this post. A label such as “Supported” or “Can’t be checked” is the claim’s current assessment; its page has the evidence and the reasons.

  1. Assessment: Can’t be checkedSaid

    “Aside from all that, Murati claimed she had no idea what specific data Sora was trained on; given her role as CTO that seems all but inconceivable.”

    What we tested: Given her role as CTO, it seems all but inconceivable to Marcus that Mira Murati had no idea what specific data Sora was trained on.

  2. Assessment: UnresolvedSaid

    “Translation: We are happy to let the public believe that we are open, but it’s really just a recruiting promise that we don’t intend to live up to (Ilya, January 2016) – but we shouldn’t disabuse people of that notion (Sam, May 2016).”

    What we tested: OpenAI's 2015 openness pledge was a recruiting promise its leaders did not intend to keep, while letting the public believe it was open.

  3. Assessment: Can’t be checkedSaid

    “Meanwhile, phrases in official filings like“Charitable” and “For the public benefit” don’t seem to have meant much at all.”

    What we tested: Phrases in OpenAI's official filings such as 'Charitable' and 'For the public benefit' don't seem to have meant much at all.

  4. Assessment: SupportedSaid

    “Translation: Using a well-known algorithm that we didn’t invent to decide which faces of the cube to turn, we taught a robot to do motor control on a specially instrumented Rubik’s cube with bluetooth sensors inside.”

    What we tested: In practice, OpenAI's 2019 claim of 'solving a Rubik's cube with one hand' meant using a well-known algorithm OpenAI didn't invent to choose which faces to turn, and teaching a robot motor control on a specially instrumented Rubik's cube with Bluetooth sensors inside.

    What happened: The announcement explicitly separates Kociemba's move sequence from the neural networks' learned manipulation. Its approach section states that training occurred in simulation. (OpenAI, )

  5. Assessment: UnresolvedSaid

    “Translation : We will never, ever give you advanced access to red-team any of our software. [Narrator: and they never have.]”

    What we tested: Despite Greg Brockman's 2020 promise, OpenAI has never given Marcus advance access to red-team any of its software.

  6. Assessment: UnresolvedSaid

    “Translation: But I do have equity in YCombinator and YCombinator has equity in OpenAI. It’s probably worth a lot, but you wouldn’t like me as much if I acknowledged that, so I won’t. Also, did I mention I own the OpenAI venture fund? Nope, guess not, sorry.”

    What we tested: In his May 2023 Senate testimony, Sam Altman left out his indirect OpenAI stake through Y Combinator and his ownership of the OpenAI venture fund.

  7. Assessment: SupportedSaid

    “Translation: But (revealed a few weeks later) behind the scenes we will try hard to water down your regulations.”

    What we tested: While publicly asking the Senate to regulate it, OpenAI worked behind the scenes to water down regulations.

    What happened: The surrounding exchange supports public cooperation on regulation. Elsewhere in the same testimony, Altman advocates licensing and safety requirements. (U.S. Government Publishing Office, )

  8. Assessment: Can’t be checkedSaid

    “As the company gears up to upload your private email, calendar, and documents, possibly for eventual resale to advertisers, that’s something worth considering.”

    What we tested: As OpenAI gears up to upload users' private email, calendar, and documents, possibly for eventual resale to advertisers, its lack of full candor is something worth considering.

Held from this post (4)

These records did not pass every check, so nothing about them is published. Held is not a finding.