Elon Musk is entering the world of artificial intelligence
The middle section of a Venn diagram between guys who like Elon Musk and guys who are really into artificial intelligence sounds like a nightmarish grouping of fellas. And that nightmare squad is having a really nice time.
According to The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, Musk is planning to launch a new generative AI start-up to compete with ChatGPT's OpenAI and has called it X.AI Corp. This is notably not a name for one of his children, although it would be reasonable to confuse it as one. Musk is the sole director of the company, and he is also buying thousands of Nvidia GPU processors — processors essential for AI tech building, the Financial Times reports.
The Twitter tzar has been critical of AI despite having co-founded OpenAI before leaving the company a decade ago. Musk is also buying 10,000 of Nvidia GPU processors, which are essential tech for building an AI that can rival ChatGPT, the Financial Times reports, and he's hired two former DeepMind researchers who will allegedly work on the project.
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This comes just weeks after he signed an open letter saying that training powerful AI systems should be halted for at least six months.
"AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity," the letter reads.
In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: "I think moving with caution and an increasing rigor for safety issues is really important. The letter I don’t think was the optimal way to address it."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Musks thinks ChatGPT is politically biased and is planning to use X.AI Corp to create an AI model that is "truth-seeking."
Whatever that means.
Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.
Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.
