Just last month, as reported, the billionaire entrepreneur originally from South Africa, Elon Musk and more than 1,800 signed an open letter for a six-month pause on the development of AI systems that goes beyond (in performance) OpenAI’s GPT-4.
In the letter, AI labs and independent experts were advised “to jointly develop and implement a set of shared safety protocols for advanced AI design.”
While that was going on, it appears Elon Musk was also working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) startup to rival OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015.
According to Nevada business records, Elon incorporated a company named X.AI on March 9. The new startup will reportedly focus on developing advanced AI systems that will be capable of outperforming humans in a wide range of tasks.
Elon’s interest in AI is well-known, and he has frequently expressed concerns over the potential dangers of this technology. In 2014, he famously warned that AI could be “more dangerous than nuclear weapons,” and he has since called for greater regulation of AI development. Elon’s involvement in OpenAI was seen as an attempt to steer AI research in a more positive direction, with a focus on developing safe and beneficial AI systems.
However, in recent years, Elon has become increasingly critical of OpenAI’s research direction. In 2019, he resigned from the board of OpenAI, citing disagreements over the company’s focus on developing narrow AI systems rather than more general AI systems that would be capable of performing a wide range of tasks.
The new company will also reportedly prioritize safety and ethical considerations in its AI development, with a focus on ensuring that its systems do not pose a threat to human safety.
By Elijah Christopher
