AI Companies Are Over the AGI Hype
▼ Summary
– The term “Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)” is being downplayed and abandoned by major tech CEOs, who now criticize it as a vague marketing term or unhelpful benchmark.
– Companies are rebranding their AI goals with new terms like “personal superintelligence” (Meta) and “humanist superintelligence” (Microsoft), which essentially describe similar concepts to AGI but with less baggage.
– A key issue with AGI is its poorly defined nature, as the concept of AI matching human intelligence varies widely, complicating contracts and public understanding.
– The shift in terminology is partly driven by public relations, aiming to move away from the fear associated with superpowerful AI and towards more practical, less intimidating branding.
– Contractual complexities, like the evolving AGI clause between OpenAI and Microsoft, further incentivize companies to avoid the term AGI to postpone or redefine milestone obligations.
The tech industry’s relentless pursuit of the ultimate artificial intelligence is undergoing a significant linguistic shift. CEOs who once championed the quest for “artificial general intelligence” are now actively distancing themselves from the term, opting instead for a confusing array of new labels that often mean the same thing. This rebranding effort reflects a growing discomfort with the hype, the vague definitions, and the public fear that have come to surround the concept of AGI.
For years, AGI stood as the industry’s holy grail. The term, which generally refers to AI that matches or exceeds human cognitive abilities, provided a compelling north star for research and investment. Now, leaders are publicly dismissing its importance. Anthropic’s Dario Amodei calls it a “marketing term,” while OpenAI’s Sam Altman questions its usefulness. Google’s Jeff Dean avoids the conversations, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella criticizes the hype as getting “a little bit ahead of ourselves.”
In place of AGI, a cornucopia of competing terminology has emerged. Meta now champions “personal superintelligence,” Microsoft promotes “humanist superintelligence,” Amazon seeks “useful general intelligence,” and Anthropic focuses on “powerful AI.” This pivot is striking for companies that previously fueled the AGI race and the fear of missing out associated with it.
A core issue is the term’s inherent vagueness. As AI systems grow more capable, the benchmark of “human-level intelligence” becomes increasingly subjective and difficult to pin down. This ambiguity creates practical problems, especially when billions of dollars are at stake. The evolving contract between Microsoft and OpenAI highlights this perfectly. Their original deal included an “AGI clause” with ill-defined parameters. A recent renewal added a layer of complexity, stating that an independent expert panel must verify any future AGI declaration from OpenAI. The simplest way to avoid this contractual trigger? Simply stop using the term AGI.
The concept has also accumulated significant baggage. After years of tech leaders warning that their own creations could pose existential risks, public sentiment has soured. What was once a compelling narrative for attracting investment has become a source of anxiety. With this fear in the air, alongside the definitional debates and contract complexities, marketing a less-loaded term is far easier.
Some have turned to “artificial superintelligence” (ASI) as a successor, denoting AI that surpasses human ability in all domains. Yet even this idea has become muddled, often conflated with AGI. Predictions for these milestones remain wildly inconsistent, with timelines ranging from a few years to an indefinite future.
Consequently, companies are crafting bespoke visions. Mark Zuckerberg’s pivot from “general intelligence” to “personal superintelligence” framed AI as a benevolent tool for individual empowerment, explicitly contrasting it with visions of centralized automation. Microsoft’s “humanist superintelligence” echoes this people-centric theme, promising AI that works in service of humanity, presented with a soft, approachable aesthetic on a dedicated website.
Amazon’s “useful general intelligence” emphasizes practicality and agency, aiming for AI that makes people more productive. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s “powerful AI” leans into raw capability, describing a system smarter than a Nobel laureate across multiple fields, capable of writing novels, proving theorems, and executing complex, long-duration tasks at superhuman speeds.
The landscape is now cluttered with acronyms: AGI, ASI, PSI, HSI, and UGI. This proliferation of terms signals an industry in transition, moving away from a single, fraught benchmark toward a fragmented set of branded ambitions. The goalposts haven’t necessarily moved, but the language describing them is changing rapidly.
(Source: The Verge)
