Elon Musk is diving headfirst into the realm of artificial intelligence. With the formation of a new organization called xAI, Musk aims to “understand the true nature of the universe” through AI.
Musk’s History with OpenAI and ChatGPT
Before venturing into the creation of xAI and “TruthGPT,” Elon Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI, the organization behind the popular ChatGPT models. However, his relationship with OpenAI has been tumultuous.
Initially launched as a nonprofit in 2015, OpenAI received a $1 billion donation commitment from Musk among others. As the organization shifted its focus from open-source research to commercial projects, Musk grew increasingly disillusioned and never completed his donation.
Musk tweeted in March: “I’m still confused as to how a non-profit to which I donated $100 million somehow became a $30 billion market cap for-profit. If this is legal, why doesn’t everyone do it?”
He resigned from the OpenAI board in 2018 and became an outspoken critic, referring to the organization as a “profit-maximizing demon from hell.” Musk’s dissatisfaction also stems from what he perceives as the limitations of existing AI models like ChatGPT, which he believes could be more aligned with the truth. This history adds a layer of intrigue to his new venture, as it seems to be both a continuation and a critique of his past involvement in the AI space.
The Birth of xAI
In a recent interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk announced plans to create an alternative to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, which he calls “TruthGPT.” Musk aims for this new AI to be a “maximum truth-seeking” entity that understands the nature of the universe.
He expressed concerns that ChatGPT is being trained to be politically correct and advocated for the regulation of artificial intelligence.
Fast forward to July 2023 to when Musk announced the launch of xAI, a team comprised of industry veterans from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Tesla, and the University of Toronto.
While the full scope of xAI’s mission is yet to be disclosed, Musk has hinted at the development of a “TruthGPT,” a text-generating AI model designed to seek maximum truth. This aligns with Musk’s criticism of existing AI models, which he believes could benefit from a dose of reality.
Data-Driven Approach
In a parallel move, X, another Musk-owned company, updated its privacy policy to include the use of publicly available data for training AI models. This includes biometric data and users’ job and education history. Musk clarified that only public data would be used, ensuring that private messages or DMs are off-limits. This data-driven approach is expected to fuel xAI’s machine learning algorithms, providing a robust foundation for its “truth-seeking” capabilities.
It seems his vision for a “TruthGPT” will in large part be influenced by X / Twitter public data to train AI models. Allegedly other tech firms are already using Twitter data to train their AI models (albeit without permission), including Microsoft who Musk threated with a potential lawsuit over the illegal use of Twitter data.
The Future Awaits
We are excited to see Elon Musk seriously step in to help shape the AI and Gen AI conversation, after being an early supporter, donor of the non-profit, and then outspoken critic of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
We all know that we could use a little more truth and a lot less hallucination in ChatGPT. We’re excited to see what the future of X as the “everything app” and how xAI might provide a more reliable alternative to ChatGPT.