OpenAI announces invitation-only community forum

Sora isn’t the only big news OpenAI has this week: the startup has announced the launch of the OpenAI Forum, a new invitation-only online community that seeks to connect “domain experts and students” to discuss and collaborate on AI.

It appears to be free to join and will include “online and in-person events,” but asks members for an hour of their time per quarter. Anyone is invited to apply to join, but OpenAI is screening applicants.

Additionally, OpenAI says it will “provide paid opportunities for community members to support OpenAI research projects,” through “model evaluations, evaluation set creation, and opportunities to provide support for the Preparedness team’s work to ensure the safety of frontier models.”

Invitation-only

Those looking to apply to join can fill out a form on the new OpenAI Forum website, asking them some basic personal information (name, email, company affiliation) as well as for a link to their LinkedIn profile.

However, not just everyone will be selected. OpenAI also posted the following criteria for prospective members:

• Demonstrated interest in the intersection of applicant domain of expertise and AI.
• The ability to make a time commitment to participate in 1 hour worth of activities per fiscal quarter.
• Demonstrated expertise in your professional field or academic discipline.
• Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. We aim to keep Forum engagement opportunities meaningful and intimate, and inclusive of a diverse array of perspectives.

activities include model evaluations, creation of evaluation sets, and support for the Preparedness team’s efforts to ensure the safety of frontier models. Through these contributions, members will play a crucial role in shaping the development and deployment of AI technologies.

Why would someone want to join?

Offering “roundtables”; “community events” featuring domain experts in AI, STEM, and the arts (a recent event featured Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel), the forum basically seems like an OpenAI fan club, one that immerses members more deeply in the company’s larger network of contacts, as well as promises a chance for their voice to be heard as it moves forward toward its mission of developing artificial generalized intelligence (AGI).

As the company puts it in an FAQ: “Creating AGI that benefits all of humanity will require broad participation from stakeholders with different backgrounds.”