Barry Diller says trust in Sam Altman may not matter as AGI approaches

Billionaire media executive Barry Diller says concerns surrounding artificial intelligence extend far beyond whether people should trust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Speaking this week at The Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” conference, Diller defended Altman amid ongoing criticism from some former OpenAI employees and board members who have accused the AI leader of being manipulative or deceptive at times.

Diller, who said he is personally friendly with Altman, was asked whether the public should place its faith in the OpenAI CEO to ensure that artificial intelligence develops in ways that benefit humanity. The conversation focused heavily on the future possibility of artificial general intelligence, or AGI — a theoretical form of AI capable of outperforming humans across nearly every intellectual task.

According to Diller, the bigger issue is not whether AI leaders are trustworthy individuals, but the unpredictable consequences that advanced AI systems themselves may create. “One of the big issues with AI is it goes way beyond trust,” Diller said during the discussion. “It may be that trust is irrelevant because the things that are happening are a surprise to the people who are making those things happen.”

Diller explained that many of the people building advanced AI systems appear genuinely uncertain about the long-term outcomes of the technology they are creating.

“And I’ve spent a lot of time with various people who’ve been in the creation mode of AI, and they have a sense of wonder themselves,” he said. “So…it’s the great unknown. We don’t know. They don’t know.” The longtime media executive, who co-founded Fox Broadcasting and currently serves as chairman of both IAC and Expedia Group, described AI as a transformational force that will likely reshape nearly every part of society. “We have embarked on something that is going to change almost everything,” Diller said. “It is not under-reported. Now, whether these huge investments are going to come through — I couldn’t care less. I’m not invested in it, but progress is going to be made.”

Despite concerns about AI’s future, Diller said he believes many of the major figures leading AI development are acting in good faith. He specifically described Altman as sincere and called him “a decent person with good values.”

At the same time, Diller stressed that the key concern is not necessarily the personal intentions of AI executives, but the possibility that AI systems themselves could evolve in unexpected ways once AGI becomes reality.

“But the issue is not their stewardship,” Diller said. “The issue is … it’s dealing truly with the unknown. They don’t know what can happen once you get AGI, and we’re close to it.” He added that humanity is moving toward AGI faster than many expected and warned that governments and technology companies need to establish meaningful safeguards before systems become too powerful. “And we must think about guardrails,” Diller noted.

He also warned that if humans fail to create effective safeguards, future AGI systems could eventually impose their own rules instead. “If humans don’t think about guardrails, then the alternative is that another force, an AGI force, will do it themselves,” Diller said. “And once that happens, once you unleash that, there’s no going back.”