Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever, the co-founders of OpenAI, might have been a bit surprised when they took part in an open conversation in Tel Aviv earlier this week.

Even before the announcer had opened up the floor, there were people on their feet shouting questions and others with urgently raised hands. Everyone had something to ask, and everyone wanted answers.

Israelis are not only avid entrepreneurs, but they are enthusiastic early adopters of technology and it was inevitable that Altman’s visit, as part of a world tour, would cause a stir here.

Altman was the first to acknowledge that Israel has a huge role to play in developing AI, telling the crowd: “There are two things I have observed that are particular about Israel: The first is talent density – this is a smallish country that punches way above its weight — and the second is the relentlessness, drive, and ambition of Israeli entrepreneurs.”

Relentless, driven and ambitious… for sure. But Altman’s conversation was about more than just the promise of this new technology, and the Israeli audience was clearly aware of the perils.

For an exciting, but also frightening glimpse into our future take a read of the article below.