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Hundreds of artificial intelligence scientists and tech executives signed a one-sentence letter that succinctly warns AI poses an existential threat to humanity, the latest example of a growing chorus of alarms raised by the very people creating the technology, the Washington Post reported. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” according to the statement released Tuesday by the nonprofit Center for AI Safety. The open letter was signed by more than 350 researchers and executives, including chatbot ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, as well as 38 members of Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence unit.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, calling on Congress to pass legislation to regulate the development of AI at a time when the technology is gaining traction across the tech industry and beyond, YahooFinance.com reported. “We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models,” Altman said in his opening remarks. “For example, the US government might consider a combination of licensing and testing requirements for development and release of AI models above a threshold of capabilities.” Both IBM Chief Privacy and Trust Officer Christina Montgomery and NYU Professor Gary Marcus, who also testified during the hearing, similarly called for regulating AI and making the technology more transparent so that users know when they are interacting with AI. AI, and specifically generative AI that can be used to generate text, images, and more using models trained on data collected via the internet, has exploded in popularity since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. Since then, Microsoft, which has invested billions in OpenAI, has launched its generative AI-powered Bing search engine and chat bot. Last week, Google debuted a series of new technologies that use generative AI as part of its Google I/O conference including a version of its powerful search engine.

Austin-based startup accelerator Newchip announced May 12 it is shutting down, the Austin Business Journal reported. "It's with a heavy heart that I announce the closure of Newchip today,” founder and CEO Andrew Ryan posted to LinkedIn, along with a lengthy explanation. The company, legally known as AstraLabs Inc., has been dealing with a chapter 11 reorganization case that started on March 17. On May 12, a bankruptcy judge ordered the case to be converted into a chapter 7 business liquidation. A meeting of creditors has been set for June 16. The Austin-based company was founded in 2016 by Ryan, Nihar Patel and Travis Brodeen and has operated a virtual incubator and accelerator to help early-stage founders grow their businesses. Newchip raised $7.9 million across several rounds of venture funding, including a $250,000 round in February this year, according to Crunchbase. Despite its history of connecting entrepreneurs with startup capital — Newchip's website boasts that it works with investors at Elevate Capital, DreamIt and others — the accelerator's finances have fallen into disarray, according to a May 10 motion from Shane Tobin on behalf of Eric Terry, the U.S. Trustee assigned to the case. The document states the company doesn’t have enough money on hand to cover its next payroll on May 15 or its other expenses.

Avaya Technologies has completed its restructuring, emerging from chapter 11 bankruptcy with $650 million in liquidity, the Triangle Business Journal reported. The company, once headquartered in Durham, N.C., where it initiated layoffs leading up to the bankruptcy, is now headquartered in New Jersey. In a press release about the firm’s transition from chapter 11, CEO Alan Masarek said the plan was to “mov[e] ahead with significant financial resources to accelerate investment in our portfolio as we continue delivering innovation without disruption to our customers.” Avaya’s reorganization plan was approved in March. The plan came after what attorney Aparna Yenamandra with Kirkland & Ellis called “months of intense, arm’s-length and at times adversarial negotiations.” While most objections to the plan were resolved, those tied to shareholder letters were ultimately passed over. Shareholders, some of whom told the Triangle Business Journal they invested after Masarek outlined his vision, were left in the lurch. The company has said in documents tied to the chapter 11 that it does “not expect shareholders to receive any recovery at the end of the court-supervised process, consistent with legal priorities.”

The Biden administration has begun examining whether checks need to be placed on artificial-intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, amid growing concerns that the technology could be used to discriminate or spread harmful information, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a first step toward potential regulation, the Commerce Department on Tuesday put out a formal public request for comment on what it called accountability measures, including whether potentially risky new AI models should go through a certification process before they are released. The boom in artificial-intelligence tools — ChatGPT is said to have reached 100 million users faster than any previous consumer app — has prompted regulators globally to consider curbs on the fast-evolving technology. China’s top internet regulator on Tuesday proposed strict controls that would, if adopted, obligate Chinese AI companies to ensure their services don’t generate content that could disrupt social order or subvert state power. European Union officials are considering a new law known as the AI Act that would ban certain AI services and impose legal restrictions on others. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Don’t miss the “Let's Chat[a]bot It: Ethical Considerations for Using Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT in Law Practice” session at next week’s Annual Spring Meeting. Still time to register!