GPT-2 Was Too Dangerous

When in 2019 OpenAI finished training a new large language model called GPT-2, the artificial-intelligence lab initially declared it too dangerous to be released. Dario Amodei, then OpenAI’s research director, insisted that the world needed time to prepare.

The meme presents a serious-looking account of OpenAI delaying the release of GPT-2 because it was considered too dangerous, quoting Dario Amodei’s warning that the world needed time to prepare. The joke is that this old fearmongering is contrasted with the rapid development and release of increasingly powerful AI models, making the warning seem prophetic or hypocritical. It is used as a reaction to someone who has been warning about AI dangers for a long time. EN: The meme presents a serious-looking account of OpenAI delaying the release of GPT-2 because it was considered too dangerous, quoting Dario Amodei’s warning that the world needed time to prepare. The joke is that this old fearmongering is contrasted with the rapid development and release of increasingly powerful AI models, making the warning seem prophetic or hypocritical. It is used as a reaction to someone who has been warning about AI dangers for a long time.

• @gentoomemes / 21221 2026-06-27