On Monday, American billionaire Elon Musk announced that his newly founded artificial intelligence unit xAI would make its Grok chatbot this week, Reuters reported.
The move comes just nearly two weeks after Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for allegedly breaching its original “not-for-profit mission.”
Musk to open-source Grok
Elon Musk’s xAI launched the ChatGPT challenger Grok last month. All X users who purchased the monthly subscription plan worth $16 can access the AI-based chatbot.
On March 11, Musk announced on X that @xAI will open-source Grok” as early as this week. The move adds fuel to the fire, involving his lawsuit against the company he helped establish in 2015.
True enough, the announcement garnered various responses from the people. An X user, @MishaFitton, replied, “OpenAI should do the same. If they are “open” that is.” Interestingly, the xAI founder bravely responded, “OpenAI is a lie.”
For context, the move will enable the public to access and experiment with the backend code of the platform for free.
Brief background: Musk sues OpenAI
As EV-a2z recently reported, Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its Chief Executive Sam Altman on February 29 for pivoting from its founding mission: prioritize humanity over profits.
Musk reportedly believed the AI company he helped build would be a non-profit entity to aid humanity. However, “OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft, as per the American billionaire.
“Under its new board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.”
Elon Musk indicated in the lawsuit
In response, OpenAI released emails revealing that Elon Musk backed a plan to establish a for-profit entity. The Tesla Chief reportedly even proposed a merger with the electric vehicle giant to have the two companies “cash cow.”
Open-sourcing concerns
Open-sourcing technology can undoubtedly accelerate innovations in the Artificial Intelligence industry. However, some experts worry that open-source AI models may serve as a tool for terrorists to build chemical weapons or, worse, produce a conscious super-intelligence beyond human control.
In response, Elon Musk proposed to launch a “third-party referee” at Britain’s 2023 AI Safety Summit. It will apparently supervise companies involved in AI development and take necessary steps if they spot alarming activities. Musk claims to have established xAI to become a “maximum truth-seeking AI.”
