Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino Reveals How OpenAI Hack Could Have Been Prevented

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Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, is developing decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) models as part of its drive into this sector.

CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed this on X, stating that these models could have prevented last year’s hack of OpenAI.

Tether is Working on Decentralized AI Models

Reports indicate that a hacker infiltrated OpenAI’s internal messaging systems to steal information about the company’s AI product designs. However, the attackers couldn’t access the system that was housing the AI development.

While this incident was disclosed to employees and the board of directors in an April 2023 meeting, the company failed to publicize the news and did not report the hack to law enforcement agencies. The firm’s silence has drawn severe scrutiny, and some have criticized its handling of the situation. However, Ardoino believes the situation would have been prevented if the firm ran a locally executable AI model.

Ardoino explained that these models better protect users’ privacy and ensure system resilience and independence. He noted that new-generation smartphones and laptops are powerful enough to fine-tune general large language models (LLMs) with users’ data, allowing enhancements to be preserved locally on the device.

“Locally executable AI models are the only way to protect people privacy and ensure resilience / independence. New generation smartphones and laptops are more than powerful enough to fine tune general LLMs with user’s own data, preserving enhancements locally to the device,” Ardoino said.

Ardoino further hinted that the company was working on these solutions by ending his comment with a “WIP [Work in progress]” conclusion.

This revelation aligns with Tether’s new AI division, which aims to capitalize on the AI trend. The firm seeks to pioneer the development of open-source, multimodal AI models that would set new industry standards. Already, the firm has made substantial investments in AI companies like the Northern Data Group.

“Tether data plans to pioneer the development of open-source, multimodal AI models to set new industry standards, driving innovation and accessibility within AI technology,” Tether stated.

Tether’s AI unit will build AI models and spearhead collaborations to integrate AI solutions into market-driven products. The unit also aims to advance the field of open AI.