Economic Survey: OpenAI has initiated an 'arms race' in AI

OpenAI has sparked an ‘arms race’ in AI, with numerous companies, including major tech firms, rushing to capitalise on the growing demand for AI between 2022 and 2024, the Economic Survey presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted.

The survey highlighted examples such as Google (Gemini), Microsoft (Co-Pilot), Meta (MetaAI with Llama), X/Twitter (Grok), Anthropic (Claude AI), Midjourney, Perplexity AI (Perplexity), and Stability AI (Stable Diffusion), among others

The document highlights concerns about AI disrupting labour markets and potentially making labour "a thing of the past." It emphasises the need for a detailed analysis of both short-term and long-term implications to address these fears.


The numbers

The number of AI patents granted globally rose by 62.7% to just over 62,000 between 2021 and 2022. Similarly, annual global private investments in generative AI soared from approximately $3 billion in 2022 to $25.2 billion by the end of 2023.

From 2021 to 2023, global corporate investments in all forms of AI reached $761 billion.

Moreover, a growing number of companies have been mentioning AI during their earnings calls, with CEOs anticipating that AI adoption will reduce labour requirements.

The Survey was released amid the recent AI frenzy surrounding the Chinese model Deepfake, which garnered global attention for its cost-efficient technology. Microsoft-backed OpenAI has alleged that the company used its proprietary models without permission.