Elon Musk Versus OpenAi

Elon Musk, former co-chairman of non-profit AI research company OpenAI, committed to investing up to $1 billion in the company in 2015. However, he stepped down in 2018 due to disagreements over AI safety. In March 2023, Musk founded Xai, a non-profit AI research company, in Nevada, and has since been headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Igor Babuschkin, previously with Google’s deep mind unit, was hired as Chief Engineer. 

Musk officially announced the formation of Xai on July 12, 2023, linking the date to Douglas Adams’ book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the company’s mission to understand the universe. In December 2023, Xai raised $134.7 million in outside funding, out of a total of up to $1 billion. Elon later claimed that Xai was not seeking any funding. 

The company’s goal is to create an AI capable of advanced mathematical reasoning, unlike current models. In November 2023, Xai unveiled Grok, an AI Chabot integrated with X, which will only be available to Premium+ subscribers after it is out of beta.

OpenAI, a US-based AI research organization, was established in 2015 to develop safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence systems. It has developed large language models, advanced image generation models, and open-source models, with ChatGPT being credited with starting the AI spring. 

The organization consists of non-profit OpenAI, Inc. and its for-profit subsidiary OpenAI Global, LLC. Microsoft provided OpenAI Global with $1 billion in 2019 and $10 billion in 2023, with a significant portion of the investment in computational resources on Microsoft’s Azure cloud service. 

In November 2023, Altman and Brockman were removed from their positions as CEO and chairman, but returned after negotiations. The new board included former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as chairman, and Microsoft announced a non-voting board seat.

In the vast realm of artificial intelligence, two giants have locked horns: Elon Musk and OpenAI. Their feud has escalated, and the battleground is none other than the Chabot domain. xAI, founded by the enigmatic Elon Musk, is no stranger to controversy and their latest creation, the Grok chatbot, has been making waves in the AI community. 

Once hailed as the beacon of AI ethics, OpenAI now finds itself embroiled in a bitter dispute with their popular chatbot, ChatGPT, becoming a central figure in this saga.

THE ACCUSATION

According to Elon, OpenAI was formed to be a non-profit organization with the sole purpose of researching and developing AI and safely introducing it to the public. However, it has now turned into a profit-hungry enterprise that only cares about catering to corporations and businesses. 

He, Musk alsoexpressed dissatisfaction with Microsoft’s growing influence on OpenAI and its language model, GPT-4. He also expressed concerns about potential misuse of AI, citing OpenAI’s racist behavior despite anti-racism training. This, combined with the lack of transparency in AI companies, led to the need for safety audits. Musk launched his own AI Chabot to combat commercially driven companies and advocated for an AI platform that seeks “the maximum truth.” He also discussed the need for a third-party referee to oversee AI firms’ functioning at the AI Safety Summit in Britain.

In a dramatic turn of events, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI. The suit alleges that OpenAI is a “closed-source de facto subsidiary” of Microsoft, with a 49% stake. OpenAIretaliated, suggesting that Musk wanted to merge the company with Tesla and become its CEO.

In response to Elon Musk’s charges, OpenAI has released a few emails that demonstrate how Musk not only backed the company’s transformation into a profitable venture but also pushed for a merger with Microsoft, thereby turning it into a “cash cow.” Numerous tech investors, including Vinod Khosla, who supports OpenAI, have been discussing the ramifications of making AI platforms open-source ever since Musk filed the complaint. While doing so will encourage innovation, other experts worry that terrorists who want to use these technologies for malicious purposes may find it simpler to operate. It will also be a perilous move because AI tools are quite potent.

MEET GROK

Grok, the AI Chabot developed by xAI, is known for its snarky and witty responses which would be available to Premium+ subscribers on X, Grok has captured the imagination of users. Ashocking announcement was made by Musk on Monday: Grok’ssource code would become public, its internal workings will soon be accessible to academics and developers worldwide. But, is this action intended as a calculated shot at OpenAI? Maybe. 

Based on the potential impact of Grok, Musk intends to boost adoption by granting access to Grok’s code to outside developers, the developer community may offer insightful criticism to improve Grok’s functionalities and its calculated gamble has the potential to change the AI Chabot landscape. As the battle rages on, we await the unveiling of Grok’s code. Will it be a game-changer? Only time will tell. But one thing is certain: the clash between Musk and OpenAI has forever altered the AI narrative.