Microsoft Artificial Intelligence CEO Mustafa Suleyman said Thursday that the company will not develop artificial intelligence services that provide "simulated pornography," distancing itself from long-time partner OpenAI. "That's not the service we're trying to provide," Suleiman said Thursday at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California. "Other companies will do it."
Suleiman's comments come a week after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company plans to allow verified adults to browse pornography using ChatGPT. OpenAI "is not the elected moral policeman of the world," Altman said.
Microsoft has been a major investor and cloud partner in OpenAI for years, and the two companies have leveraged their respective strengths to build large artificial intelligence businesses. But the relationship has shown signs of strain recently, with OpenAI partnering with Microsoft rivals Google and Oracle, while Microsoft has focused more on its own artificial intelligence services.
Earlier on Thursday, Microsoft announced a slew of new features for its AI chatbot Copilot, including an AI companion called Mico that can respond to users through calling capabilities and change colors to express itself.
Suleiman said Thursday that it appears the creation of conscious artificial intelligence has already begun, primarily for pornographic services. He pointed to Ultraman's comments as well as Elon Musk's Grok, which launched its own companion feature in July, including a female anime character.
"You can already see it with these avatars, people are leaning towards the erotic direction of sex robots," Suleiman said. "It's very dangerous and I think we should make a conscious decision to avoid this kind of thing."
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while xAI responded: "Traditional media is lying."