Figma co-founder and CEO Dylan Field stated Thursday that artificial intelligence does not pose a critical risk to the way forward for the design software firm, which is on the verge of debuting on the general public markets.
“We’re on this second the place you may, in the event you’re singularity-pilled, go, ‘Hey, superintelligence is coming and it will be capable to do issues that no human can do,” Discipline advised CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I’ve a more durable time believing that we’ll method that actually shortly proper now, however that does not imply it is out of the image.”
Figma is slated to start buying and selling on the New York Inventory Alternate beneath the ticker image “FIG” on Thursday. Final week, the corporate estimated that it could worth shares within the vary of $25 to $28, and on Wednesday it priced above that vary at $33 a share.
The providing values Figma, which ranked No. 45 on this yr’s CNBC Disruptor 50 listing, at $19.3 billion.
The corporate was alleged to be acquired by Adobe for $20 billion, however the deal was scrapped in December 2023 after regulators objected.
So-called “superintelligence,” a kind of synthetic intelligence that might be extra highly effective than the human mind, has not too long ago turn into a rising focus amongst know-how firms.
Discipline advised CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin that the corporate’s “complicated” graphics engine and different elements of its know-how make it tough to get replaced by superintelligence.
“I believe that is not stuff that you would be able to be taught from taking a look at code and kind of varied locations on the web,” Discipline stated. “It is not a part of the pre-training information combine. I imagine that doing that at scale — it is fairly tough.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been particularly vocal concerning the potential for superintelligence, declaring in a Wednesday memo that the know-how will function a device for “particular person empowerment” over automation and effectivity.
Meta not too long ago created a lab to pursue superintelligence, and Zuckerberg has poured billions of {dollars} into constructing a roster of prime AI expertise.
— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed reporting to this story.