Elon Musk has taken a fresh step into the world of artificial intelligence by launching his own company, xAI. His aim is to compete with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which Musk accuses of being politically biased and irresponsible. xAI will operate independently from Musk’s other ventures but will develop technology that benefits his businesses, including Twitter.
According to the xAI website, the primary objective is to gain a true understanding of the universe. Musk, on Twitter, added that the new company aims to comprehend reality and provide answers to life’s most significant questions. The startup comprises former researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Tesla, and the University of Toronto.
To ensure the responsible development of AI, the team will receive guidance from Dan Hendrycks, who currently leads the San Francisco-based Center for AI Safety. This organization cautions against the hasty development of AI and was behind an open letter addressed to global leaders in June, highlighting the risks of AI comparable to pandemics and nuclear war.
Musk has long expressed concerns about the dangers of AI, referring to it as the “biggest existential threat” and likening rapid progress to “summoning the demon.” He co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a response to what he considered reckless advances in artificial intelligence by Google. However, he left OpenAI in 2018 to focus on his other ventures, citing discomfort with the company’s profit-driven direction under CEO Sam Altman.
Another point of contention for Musk is OpenAI’s large language models, such as ChatGPT, which he believes are excessively politically correct. In April, during an interview with Fox News, a conservative broadcaster, Musk shared details about his plans for a new AI tool called “TruthGPT.” He acknowledged that his new AI company is entering the game relatively late, following the significant progress made by OpenAI and Google DeepMind over the years.
Launching an AI company on the scale of OpenAI or Google DeepMind requires substantial investment, particularly in terms of the necessary semiconductors, or GPUs, which are primarily produced by California-based Nvidia.
