I don't think OpenAI cares about whether their AI is conscious, as long as it can solve problems. If they could make a Blindsight-style general intelligence where nobody is actually home, they'd jump right on it.
Conversely, a proof - or even evidence - that qualia-consciousness is necessary for intelligence, or that any sufficiently advanced intelligence is necessarily conscious through something like panpsychism, would make some serious waves in philosophy circles.
Conversely, a proof - or even evidence - that qualia-consciousness is necessary for intelligence, or that any sufficiently advanced intelligence is necessarily conscious through something like panpsychism, would make some serious waves in philosophy circles.