On Sunday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered two eye-catching predictions about the near-future of artificial intelligence. In a post titled "Reflections" on his personal blog, Altman wrote , "We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it." He added, "We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents 'join the workforce' and materially change the output of companies."

Both statements are notable coming from Altman, who has served as the leader of OpenAI during the rise of mainstream generative AI products such as ChatGPT . AI agents are the latest marketing trend in AI, allowing AI models to take action on a user's behalf. However, critics of the company and Altman immediately took aim at the statements on social media.

" We are now confident that we can spin bullshit at unprecedented levels, and get away with it," wrote frequent OpenAI critic Gary Marcus in response to Altman's post. "So we now aspire to aim beyond that, to hype in purest sense of that word. We love our products, but we are here for the glorious next rounds of funding. With infinite funding, we can control the universe."

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On Sunday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered two eye-catching predictions about the near-future of artificial intelligence. In a post titled "Reflections" on his personal blog, Altman wrote , "We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it." He added, "We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents 'join the workforce' and materially change the output of companies."

Both statements are notable coming from Altman, who has served as the leader of OpenAI during the rise of mainstream generative AI products such as ChatGPT . AI agents are the latest marketing trend in AI, allowing AI models to take action on a user's behalf. However, critics of the company and Altman immediately took aim at the statements on social media.

" We are now confident that we can spin bullshit at unprecedented levels, and get away with it," wrote frequent OpenAI critic Gary Marcus in response to Altman's post. "So we now aspire to aim beyond that, to hype in purest sense of that word. We love our products, but we are here for the glorious next rounds of funding. With infinite funding, we can control the universe."

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On Sunday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered two eye-catching predictions about the near-future of artificial intelligence. In a post titled "Reflections" on his personal blog, Altman wrote , "We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it." He added, "We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents 'join the workforce' and materially change the output of companies."

Both statements are notable coming from Altman, who has served as the leader of OpenAI during the rise of mainstream generative AI products such as ChatGPT . AI agents are the latest marketing trend in AI, allowing AI models to take action on a user's behalf. However, critics of the company and Altman immediately took aim at the statements on social media.

" We are now confident that we can spin bullshit at unprecedented levels, and get away with it," wrote frequent OpenAI critic Gary Marcus in response to Altman's post. "So we now aspire to aim beyond that, to hype in purest sense of that word. We love our products, but we are here for the glorious next rounds of funding. With infinite funding, we can control the universe."

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After a long career as a politician from Florida, former astronaut Bill Nelson has served as NASA's administrator for the last three and a half years. He intends to resign from this position in about two weeks when President Joe Biden ends his term in the White House.

Several significant events have happened under Nelson's watch at NASA, including the long-delayed but ultimately successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the flight of the first Artemis mission, and the momentous decision to fly Boeing's Starliner spacecraft back to Earth without crew aboard. But as he leaves office, there are questions about ongoing delays with NASA's signature Artemis Program to return humans to the Moon.

Ars spoke with Nelson about his time in office, the major decisions he made, and the concerns he has for the space agency's future under the Trump administration. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

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After a long career as a politician from Florida, former astronaut Bill Nelson has served as NASA's administrator for the last three and a half years. He intends to resign from this position in about two weeks when President Joe Biden ends his term in the White House.

Several significant events have happened under Nelson's watch at NASA, including the long-delayed but ultimately successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the flight of the first Artemis mission, and the momentous decision to fly Boeing's Starliner spacecraft back to Earth without crew aboard. But as he leaves office, there are questions about ongoing delays with NASA's signature Artemis Program to return humans to the Moon.

Ars spoke with Nelson about his time in office, the major decisions he made, and the concerns he has for the space agency's future under the Trump administration. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

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After a long career as a politician from Florida, former astronaut Bill Nelson has served as NASA's administrator for the last three and a half years. He intends to resign from this position in about two weeks when President Joe Biden ends his term in the White House.

Several significant events have happened under Nelson's watch at NASA, including the long-delayed but ultimately successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the flight of the first Artemis mission, and the momentous decision to fly Boeing's Starliner spacecraft back to Earth without crew aboard. But as he leaves office, there are questions about ongoing delays with NASA's signature Artemis Program to return humans to the Moon.

Ars spoke with Nelson about his time in office, the major decisions he made, and the concerns he has for the space agency's future under the Trump administration. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

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Last month, we asked readers to donate to a couple of good causes in our 2024 Charity Drive sweepstakes . And boy, did you deliver. With the drive now complete and the donations all tallied, we can report that Ars Technica readers gave an incredible $39,047.66 to Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this year's drive. That doesn't set a new record, but it nearly matches last year's total and raises our lifetime Ars Charity Drive donation haul since 2007 to over $540,000 . Well done, Arsians!

Thanks to everyone who gave whatever they could. We're still early in the process of selecting and notifying winners of our swag giveaway, so don't fret if you haven't heard if you're a winner yet. In the meantime, enjoy these quick stats from the 2024 drive.

• 2023 fundraising total: $39,047.66
  • Total given to Child's Play: $14,914.82
  • Total given to the EFF: $23,912.89
• Number of individual donations: 378
  • Child's Play donations: 201
  • EFF donations: 174
• Average donation: $103.30
  • Child's Play average donation: $74.20
  • EFF average donation: $137.43
• Median donation: $50.75
  • Median Child's Play donation: $50.00
  • Median EFF donation: $66.95
• Top single donation: $3,0000 (to EFF)
• Donations of $1,000 or more: 7
• Donations of $100 or more: 133
• $5 or less donations: 6 (every little bit helps!)

• Total charity donations from Ars Technica drives since 2007 (approximate): $542,935.18
  • 2024: $39,047.66
  • 2023: $39,830.36
  • 2022: $31,656.07
  • 2021: $40,261.71
  • 2020: $58,758.11
  • 2019: $33,181.11
  • 2018: $20,210.66
  • 2017: $36,012.37
  • 2016: $38,738.11
  • 2015: $38,861.06
  • 2014: $25,094.31
  • 2013: $23,570.13
  • 2012: $28,713.52
  • 2011: ~$26,000
  • 2010: ~$24,000
  • 2009: ~$17,000
  • 2008: ~$12,000
  • 2007: ~$10,000

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Last month, we asked readers to donate to a couple of good causes in our 2024 Charity Drive sweepstakes . And boy, did you deliver. With the drive now complete and the donations all tallied, we can report that Ars Technica readers gave an incredible $39,047.66 to Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this year's drive. That doesn't set a new record, but it nearly matches last year's total and raises our lifetime Ars Charity Drive donation haul since 2007 to over $540,000 . Well done, Arsians!

Thanks to everyone who gave whatever they could. We're still early in the process of selecting and notifying winners of our swag giveaway, so don't fret if you haven't heard if you're a winner yet. In the meantime, enjoy these quick stats from the 2024 drive.

• 2023 fundraising total: $39,047.66
  • Total given to Child's Play: $14,914.82
  • Total given to the EFF: $23,912.89
• Number of individual donations: 378
  • Child's Play donations: 201
  • EFF donations: 174
• Average donation: $103.30
  • Child's Play average donation: $74.20
  • EFF average donation: $137.43
• Median donation: $50.75
  • Median Child's Play donation: $50.00
  • Median EFF donation: $66.95
• Top single donation: $3,0000 (to EFF)
• Donations of $1,000 or more: 7
• Donations of $100 or more: 133
• $5 or less donations: 6 (every little bit helps!)

• Total charity donations from Ars Technica drives since 2007 (approximate): $542,935.18
  • 2024: $39,047.66
  • 2023: $39,830.36
  • 2022: $31,656.07
  • 2021: $40,261.71
  • 2020: $58,758.11
  • 2019: $33,181.11
  • 2018: $20,210.66
  • 2017: $36,012.37
  • 2016: $38,738.11
  • 2015: $38,861.06
  • 2014: $25,094.31
  • 2013: $23,570.13
  • 2012: $28,713.52
  • 2011: ~$26,000
  • 2010: ~$24,000
  • 2009: ~$17,000
  • 2008: ~$12,000
  • 2007: ~$10,000

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Last month, we asked readers to donate to a couple of good causes in our 2024 Charity Drive sweepstakes . And boy, did you deliver. With the drive now complete and the donations all tallied, we can report that Ars Technica readers gave an incredible $39,047.66 to Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this year's drive. That doesn't set a new record, but it nearly matches last year's total and raises our lifetime Ars Charity Drive donation haul since 2007 to over $540,000 . Well done, Arsians!

Thanks to everyone who gave whatever they could. We're still early in the process of selecting and notifying winners of our swag giveaway, so don't fret if you haven't heard if you're a winner yet. In the meantime, enjoy these quick stats from the 2024 drive.

• 2023 fundraising total: $39,047.66
  • Total given to Child's Play: $14,914.82
  • Total given to the EFF: $23,912.89
• Number of individual donations: 378
  • Child's Play donations: 201
  • EFF donations: 174
• Average donation: $103.30
  • Child's Play average donation: $74.20
  • EFF average donation: $137.43
• Median donation: $50.75
  • Median Child's Play donation: $50.00
  • Median EFF donation: $66.95
• Top single donation: $3,0000 (to EFF)
• Donations of $1,000 or more: 7
• Donations of $100 or more: 133
• $5 or less donations: 6 (every little bit helps!)

• Total charity donations from Ars Technica drives since 2007 (approximate): $542,935.18
  • 2024: $39,047.66
  • 2023: $39,830.36
  • 2022: $31,656.07
  • 2021: $40,261.71
  • 2020: $58,758.11
  • 2019: $33,181.11
  • 2018: $20,210.66
  • 2017: $36,012.37
  • 2016: $38,738.11
  • 2015: $38,861.06
  • 2014: $25,094.31
  • 2013: $23,570.13
  • 2012: $28,713.52
  • 2011: ~$26,000
  • 2010: ~$24,000
  • 2009: ~$17,000
  • 2008: ~$12,000
  • 2007: ~$10,000

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