Elon Musk has recently announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence (AI) company called xAI. The company aims to understand the true nature of the universe, according to the announcement on its website. While xAI is separate from Musk’s umbrella company, X Corp, it will closely collaborate with Musk’s other ventures, such as Twitter and Tesla, which utilizes AI in its self-driving cars.
This venture is an extension of Musk’s long-standing interest in AI. He had previously funded OpenAI, a company that developed ChatGPT, but withdrew his support in 2018. Musk’s bid to take over the company and his concerns about OpenAI falling behind Google in AI development led to his decision to leave. Since then, he has publicly criticized OpenAI’s funding shift from a non-profit to a for-profit organization, among other issues.
The initial team of xAI consists of twelve members, including former employees from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Tesla, and researchers from the University of Toronto. However, the team lacks gender diversity, as all members are men. Some critics argue that the company’s objective of understanding the universe is reminiscent of armchair philosophy and question its significance.
Aside from exploring the universe, xAI is likely to focus on developing a safer and fairer AI system, in line with Musk’s concerns about the uncontrolled advancement of AI technology. Musk has previously called for a pause in AI development due to safety concerns. However, some skeptics doubt the sincerity of his intentions and view his involvement in xAI as contradictory to his earlier statements.
There are also concerns about the potential connection between xAI and another project supported by Musk called TruthGPT. Musk expressed unease about ChatGPT being trained to be politically correct and instead emphasized the importance of a chatbot that speaks “the truth,” raising concerns about potential sexist and racist biases.
As for the company’s prospects for success, it is difficult to determine. The objectives and the definition of success for xAI remain unclear, leaving some experts skeptical about its potential impact.
