Elon Musk formally enters the AI market with new company, xAI

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter, has announced the launch of his new artificial intelligence (AI) company, xAI, today. Musk, who was once part of the AI research nonprofit OpenAI, is now stepping into the arena with a venture that aims to “understand the true nature of the universe.”

The fledgling company’s team, currently 12-strong, is led by Musk and comprises veterans from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Tesla, and the University of Toronto.

Rumors to reality

Rumors regarding Musk’s AI endeavor surfaced earlier this year when it was reported that he had purchased thousands of GPU processors to support an upcoming generative AI product. His new company xAI, incorporated in Nevada in March 2023, lists Musk as its director and Jared Birchall, the director of Musk’s family office, as its secretary.

Musk’s interest in AI, particularly in language models similar to OpenAI’s GPT-4, was hinted at during an April interview with Tucker Carlson. Musk expressed a desire to create what he called “TruthGPT,” a “maximum-truth-seeking AI.” This ambition might shape the initial efforts of xAI, potentially culminating in a text-generating AI Musk perceives as more “truthful” than existing models.

Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center for AI Safety, has been appointed an advisor to xAI, fortifying its mission to advance AI technology responsibly. The company is set to work alongside Twitter and Tesla in the pursuit of its yet-to-be-revealed objectives.

Despite Musk’s past association with OpenAI, relations between the billionaire and his former organization have been strained since his resignation from the OpenAI board in 2018. Differences arose as Musk disagreed with the company’s transition from open-source research to primarily commercial projects.

Elon Musk’s ambitious new venture will reveal more about its AI-based pursuits during a Twitter Spaces event on Friday.

While further details about the operations of xAI remain under wraps, this initiative represents Musk’s escalating ambition to revolutionize the AI industry and signals his intention to challenge existing tech giants.