- tech360.tv
Elon Musk Launches xAI, a New AI Company
Updated: Jan 2
[Edited] Renowned billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has officially unveiled his highly anticipated artificial intelligence startup, xAI.
The company aims to assemble a team of engineers from major US technology firms to develop an alternative to ChatGPT, a popular AI model created by OpenAI.
Musk, who already holds the positions of CEO at Tesla, SpaceX, and owner of Twitter, has been a vocal advocate for the regulation and cautious development of AI. He has repeatedly expressed concerns about the potential "civilizational destruction" that AI could bring.
During a recent Twitter Spaces event, Musk outlined his strategy for building a safer AI. Instead of directly programming morality into the AI, xAI will focus on creating an AI that is "maximally curious." Musk believes that if the AI strives to understand the true nature of the universe, it will inherently prioritize humanity's interests.
Musk also made a bold prediction, stating that superintelligence, which refers to AI surpassing human intelligence, will emerge within the next five to six years.
It is worth noting that Musk co-founded OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, in 2015. However, he stepped down from the company's board in 2018. Microsoft is among the investors in OpenAI.
The xAI team consists of notable individuals from the tech industry, including Igor Babuschkin, a former engineer at Google's DeepMind; Tony Wu, who previously worked at Google; Christian Szegedy, a former research scientist at Google; and Greg Yang, who was previously associated with Microsoft.
In March, Musk registered a firm named X.AI Corp in Nevada, where he serves as the sole director. Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk's family office, is listed as the secretary.
In April, Musk revealed his plans to launch TruthGPT, an AI model focused on seeking maximum truth, to rival Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing AI in understanding the nature of the universe.
Generative AI gained significant attention with the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November last year, preceding the releases of Bard and Bing AI.
Dan Hendrycks, the director of the Center for AI Safety, will provide guidance to the xAI team, focusing on the risks associated with AI.
While xAI operates as a separate entity from X Corp, it will collaborate closely with Twitter, Tesla, and other companies, as stated on the xAI website.
xAI is actively recruiting experienced engineers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Elon Musk has launched xAI, an AI firm, with the aim of challenging OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Musk plans to create a "maximally curious" AI that prioritizes understanding the universe.
The xAI team includes engineers from major tech companies such as Google and Microsoft.
Source: Reuters