After months of plans to create a competitor to ChatGPT, Elon Musk announced on Wednesday, July 12, the launch of a new firm centered on artificial intelligence. xAI, the startup, launched its website and introduced its crew of twelve.
In April, Elon Musk announced that he would release TruthGPT, an Artificial Intelligence model that seeks the truth to compete with Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI, attempting to comprehend the cosmos.
According to the website, Musk will be at the helm of the new firm, which “will work closely with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies to make progress towards our mission.” The website proclaims, “The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe.”
Website claims “separate” status from Musk’s umbrella X Corp, “but will work closely with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies.” To explain the change, Musk pointed to data scraping by artificial intelligence (AI) businesses looking to train large language models (LLMs).
On July 14, the @xAI team will organize a Twitter Spaces discussion where attendees can “meet the team and ask us questions,” as the official website states. No exact time was specified for this virtual meeting.
“If it tried to understand the true nature of the universe, that’s the best thing I can come up with from an AI safety standpoint,” Musk said. “I think it is going to be pro-humanity from the standpoint that humanity is much more interesting than not-humanity.”
What Does “xAI” Mean?
According to the website, xAI is an artificial intelligence company whose mission is to discover the ultimate truth about the cosmos. This year, the company officially became a Nevada corporation in the United States.
Business Insider reported in April that xAI had purchased around 10,000 GPUs, the hardware essential to the functioning of any large-scale AI model. While the company’s financial structure remains unknown, a report says that Musk is courting investors from Tesla and SpaceX.
“If it tried to understand the true nature of the universe, that’s the best thing I can come up with from an AI safety standpoint,” Musk said. “I think it is going to be pro-humanity from the standpoint that humanity is much more interesting than not-humanity.”
With Whom is xAI Collaborating?
The company’s website states that two well-known individuals are associated with it. Among them is Igor Babuschkin, a researcher formerly at Alphabet’s Deepmind AI section whom Musk hired to develop a competitor to ChatGPT.
In addition, he has served as a member of OpenAI’s technical staff. The other is Dan Hendrycks, who also happens to be the current director of the Centre for AI Safety, an institution that has raised concerns about the security of AI.
The xAI team has brought Dan Hendrycks to serve as an advisor. Hendrycks’s knowledge is invaluable because he is an expert at evaluating the dangers AI poses. Also, his command over AI security concerns is invaluable for the company.
Igor Babuschkin, Manuel Kroiss, Yuhuai Wu, Christian Szegedy, Jimmy Ba, Toby Pohlen, Ross Nordeen, Kyle Kosic, Greg Yang, Guodong Zhang, and Zihang Dai are all listed as members of the xAI team alongside Mr Musk on the company’s website.
4 Key Considerations Regarding xAI
#1 Meaning of xAI
The acronym stands for “Explainable Artificial Intelligence” or “Interpretable Artificial Intelligence”. It aids in human comprehension of AI reasoning and decision-making. Mr Musk and the newly established corporation have been silent on the matter.
#2 Rein Holders of xAI
The Verge states that the Nevada registration of xAI took place in April. The current wealthiest person in the world, Elon Musk, was identified as its director, while Mr Musk’s family office director, Jared Birchall, was designated as its secretary.
#3 xAI is Not the Same as X Corp
According to the xAI website, Musk’s new company is separate from X Corp but plans to work closely with industry leaders like Twitter and Tesla. The xAI has declared its intention to expand its workforce by soliciting qualified engineers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
#4 “Maximally Curious” AI System
Elon Musk discussed how to create less dangerous AI during a Twitter Spaces event on Wednesday night. He said that xAI would not be concerned with building morality into its machines. Instead, they want to build a ” maximally curious AI.”
Musk believes that the hazards connected with developing AI can be mitigated by encouraging AI to have a healthy curiosity. Also, he intended to offer a more secure AI environment for the coming generations.
Final Thoughts
We never know what xAI can do in the upcoming future. But, we will surely witness some dramatic changes in the world of AI. Also, for people looking to work with Elon Musk, xAI has announced that it seeks qualified engineers and researchers in the Bay Area.
So, grab the opportunity; till then, we will wait to see how xAI can give tough competition to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
