- Sam Altman said AI's rapid growth is a scientific challenge for researchers to manage.
- He warned infrastructure security alone cannot address risks from advanced AI models.
- Altman emphasized the need for AI alignment, oversight, and behavior control research.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is turning the technology into a scientific challenge, as researchers struggle to keep pace with the growing capabilities of increasingly powerful AI models and ensure they remain predictable and controllable.
He cautioned that security measures implemented at the infrastructure level, including those associated with Nvidia's AI hardware and systems, cannot by themselves address the broader risks posed by advanced AI models.
The comments come amid a growing debate among technology leaders over how AI safety should be approached as models become more capable and autonomous.
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Altman has repeatedly flagged the risks associated with accelerating AI capabilities, saying developers of advanced models must strengthen safeguards covering model alignment, oversight and security as the technology becomes more powerful.
His latest remarks suggest that securing chips, data centres and other infrastructure is only one part of the challenge.
The more difficult question, according to Altman, is understanding how increasingly capable models behave and ensuring that their actions remain aligned with human objectives.
“Nvidia security” is therefore not a “full solution”, Altman said, pointing to the distinction between protecting AI infrastructure from external threats and addressing risks originating from the behaviour and capabilities of AI systems themselves.
The comments also highlight a difference in emphasis between Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Huang has argued that AI safety can largely be addressed as an engineering challenge through testing, safeguards, product evaluations and existing legal frameworks.
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Altman's position places greater emphasis on research into AI alignment and the science required to reliably control advanced systems as their capabilities expand.
The debate comes as AI companies race to develop more powerful models, while policymakers and researchers grapple with questions surrounding autonomous agents, cybersecurity, model control and potential unintended behaviour.
For OpenAI, Altman has indicated that the company expects to introduce “many great new models”, while maintaining that safety must keep pace with advances in capability.
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