AI Leaders Find Even Talking About Privacy Concerns a Struggle

All eyes turned to Sam Altman.It had been days of workshops and panels at IAPP’s privacy summit, where professionals talk about managing personal information responsibly. Now, Altman, the CEO of OpenAI Inc. was asked: “What does privacy mean to you? Can I ask you that? What do you think privacy means?”Altman, who was attending virtually, hesitated briefly as he loomed over the audience from a giant video screen at Washington’s convention center. “I would be too shy to say that in this room,” he finally said.The exchange in late April summed up the tensions at play as AI technology evolves rapidly, clashing with global data privacy principles with each growth spurt. Companies have been grappling with this friction, which has sparked global investigations, enforcement actions and fines, halted the release of certain products, and transformed in-house data governance teams.The keynote took place days before Tools for Humanity Corp., another Altman venture, started to roll out thousands of...