Billionaire media mogul Barry Diller has expressed confidence in OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's sincerity, despite recent accusations of manipulation and deception. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” conference, Diller highlighted the pressing issue of artificial general intelligence (AGI), a form of AI that could outperform humans on any task.

“One of the big issues with AI is it goes way beyond trust,” said Diller. “We have embarked on something that is going to change almost everything.” He emphasized that while many leading figures are good stewards, the primary concern should be managing the unknowns that come with AGI's impending arrival.

“They don’t know what can happen once you get AGI,” Diller warned. “We must think about guardrails because if we don’t, an AGI force might do it itself and there’s no going back.”

Diller added that while he holds Altman in high regard, the focus should not be on individual stewardship but on the broader implications of emerging technologies.

“Trust is irrelevant,” Diller concluded. “We are dealing with the great unknown – a situation where both creators and users are surprised by the outcomes.”