The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Microsoft president Brad Smith said there is no chance of super-intelligent artificial intelligence being created within the next 12 months, and cautioned that the technology could be decades away. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman was removed in November as chief executive officer by the company's board, but was reinstated after a weekend of outcry from employees and shareholders. Reuters last week exclusively reported that the ouster came shortly after researchers had contacted the board, warning of a dangerous discovery they feared could have unintended consequences. An unnamed source said the internal project named Q* (pronounced Q-Star) could be a breakthrough in the start-up's search for what is known as artificial general intelligence (AGI). OpenAI defines AGI as autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks. However, Mr. Smith, speaking to reporters in Britain on Thursday, rejected claims of a dangerous breakthrough. He said, "There's absolutely no probability that you're going to see this so-called AGI, where computers are more powerful than people, in the next 12 months."