Young AI researchers William Chen and Guan Wang have turned down a multimillion-dollar offer from Elon Musk to focus on their own revolutionary AI model, Sapient Intelligence.
What Happened: Chen and Wang, both 22, created a small large-language model (LLM) named OpenChat while studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The model, which utilized reinforcement learning (RL) to enhance its capabilities, garnered attention in academic circles.
Musk, via his company xAI, recognized the duo’s potential and extended a generous offer. However, the pair declined, opting to concentrate on developing a new AI architecture to overcome the limitations of large-scale machine learning.
Their decision resulted in the development of Sapient Intelligence, a “brain-inspired” reasoning system that outperformed some of the world’s leading AI systems in abstract reasoning tests.
According to the report by Fortune, Chen and Wang are optimistic that their model will be the first to achieve “artificial general intelligence” (AGI), a level of machine intelligence that can equal or exceed human cognitive abilities.
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The pair’s journey to this breakthrough started in Michigan, where they met in high school and discovered a mutual interest in AI and optimization. Their collaboration continued at Tsinghua University, where they encountered academic hurdles but received support from their professors for their innovative work.
Currently, Sapient Intelligence is gearing up to open a U.S. office, secure additional funding, and launch the second version of their model.
Chen and Wang maintain that the capacity for a model to learn continuously without retraining from scratch represents the next significant milestone in AI.
Why It Matters: The decision by Chen and Wang to reject Musk’s offer and pursue their own AI breakthrough underscores the growing confidence among young innovators in their ability to shape the future of AI.
Their brain-inspired reasoning system, Sapient Intelligence, has already demonstrated its potential by outperforming established AI systems.
The duo’s focus on continuous learning without retraining from scratch could significantly advance the field of AI, potentially leading to the creation of machines with cognitive abilities on par with or superior to humans.
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