Later this month, OpenAI is expected to release the latest version of ChatGPT – the groundbreaking AI chatbot that became the fastest growing app in history when it was launched in 2022.

When Sam Altman first pitched an ambitious plan to develop artificial intelligence, he likened it to another world changing, potentially world destroying endeavor: the Manhattan Project, in which the U.S. raced to build an atomic bomb. 

The sales pitch he made to Elon Musk worked. Altman was promised a billion dollars for the project and was even given a name: OpenAI. 

In a new book, "Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares of Sam Altman's OpenAI," tech journalist Karen Hao chronicles the company's secretive and zealous pursuit of artificial general intelligence. 

Today, Hao joins the show to not only pull back the curtain on the company's inner workings through its astronomical rise and very public controversies, but also on the very real human and environmental impacts it has had, all in the name of advancing its technology. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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