Zuckerberg wants personal superintelligence available to everyone

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday outlined his vision for a world where personal superintelligence is available to everyone rather than only a select few.

In a 14-page letter titled “The Future is for Everyone: The Path to a Positive AI Future,” Zuckerberg argued that broadly distributing superintelligent AI represents both an economic opportunity and a safeguard against concentrating too much power in the hands of governments, businesses and other institutions.

“We propose a philosophy based on individual empowerment as the source of prosperity, invention as the primary purpose of superintelligence, and balance of power as the foundation of safety,” he wrote.

His broader argument centers on individual empowerment, using AI primarily to help people invent rather than simply automate work, distributing power through checks and balances and ensuring communities benefit from Meta’s AI infrastructure investments.

ZUCKERBERG PREDICTS MORE JOBS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IF SUPERINTELLIGENCE IS WIDELY DISTRIBUTED

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday outlined his vision for a world where personal superintelligence is available to everyone. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“All new technologies create opportunities and challenges. Superintelligence will be among the most important technologies in history, so its opportunities and challenges will likely be greater than any we’ve seen in our lifetimes. We should take this very seriously,” he added.

Zuckerberg said empowering individuals would allow people to compete with and check one another economically, socially and politically, while also helping balance the power of businesses and governments.

“But if the power of superintelligence is held by a small number of individuals, businesses, governments, or AI itself, then that will naturally lead to outcomes that are less favorable for everyone else,” Zuckerberg said. “This is not a technological principle. It is about the balance of power. There is no such thing as a singular benevolent superintelligence.”

He said the key to a positive future for everyone is achieving a balance of power that favors individuals, arguing that superintelligence should be broadly distributed to empower people.

“Meta is the company primarily focused on building personal superintelligence for everyone,” he said. “Most other labs are focused on building AI for companies, governments, or other institutions, so if those labs lead, then the balance of power will favor larger institutions over individuals. Meta’s mission since our founding has focused on putting power in people’s hands. If our beliefs and principles lead, then the balance of…