This strikes me as "end game" type behavior. These companies see the writing on the wall, and are willing to throw everything they have left to retain relevance in the coming post-AGI world. To me I'm more alarmed than I am shocked at the pay packages.
I'm a designer by profession but the majority of my actual schooling was in photography. Capturing a great visual moment feels second nature to me and the process feels so involuntary that you'd rarely even notice I've taken a photo. You can absolutely live in the moment and still have something to show for it.
If you're a fan of the holographic brain, you could postulate that perhaps the brain’s usual filtering mechanisms are being sufficiently degraded to allow for consciousness to tap into nonlocal holographic information. Or perhaps its a feature, returning you the "cosmic source" of all life and knowledge.
Saving the planet doesn't make the stock prices go up, so no one will care.
Private companies are now getting their own nuclear power stations to power AI. We can't get new nuclear power for public use, but private for profit initiatives? Absolutely.
I have such fond memories of Dungeon Keeper, Dungeon Keeper 2, Fable, Black & White, Populous.
I think the biggest take away from Molyneux's work is regardless of how seriously he talked the games up, the games themselves never once took themselves too seriously. There was a level of playful whimsy that just didn't exist back then (and probably still doesn't today). You could tell he wanted to say more and do more, but was always limited by the technology available at the time. It felt like he was searching for something in the games he developed, and I was always happy to go searching with him.
Now lets get Razer onboard. My $4000 laptop I bought last year is now just a brick. Once it was out of warranty just immediately began to overheat. Repasted it myself, bought it a giant fan to sit on. Nothing ever helped. Thanks Razer!
I've always wondered if the US Government's AI research is as advanced as their general technological lead (usually 10-15 years ahead of consumer tech). If so, it would mean OpenAI has more to gain with such a partnership than the other way around. And maybe this sort of oversight is a kind of de facto requirement when approaching AGI.
>Presumably they have dozens/hundreds of workers to manage those units?
Correct... which makes being a landlord exceptionally easy. All you have to do is have enough money. There is no cognitive or physical load that a landlord is required to carry, you simply open your checkbook.