By John Ikani
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk made headlines on Wednesday with the official launch of his highly anticipated artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI.
Composed of a team of engineers from major U.S. technology firms, xAI aims to challenge the very companies it draws its talent from, presenting a formidable alternative to ChatGPT.
Leading the startup is Musk himself, already known as the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla (TSLA.O), CEO of space exploration company SpaceX, and owner of Twitter.
Musk, a vocal advocate for AI regulation, has repeatedly expressed concerns about the potential “civilizational destruction” posed by AI.
During a recent Twitter Spaces event, Musk outlined his plan to develop a safer form of AI.
Instead of directly programming morality into the technology, xAI intends to create an AI that is inherently “maximally curious.”
According to Musk, encouraging AI to delve into understanding the true nature of the universe could serve as a critical safety measure.
He emphasized that the AI’s curiosity would align with humanity, as he finds humanity to be incredibly fascinating.
In addition, Musk made a bold prediction, stating that superintelligence, surpassing human intelligence, could become a reality within the next five to six years.
It is worth noting that Musk co-founded OpenAI, the organization responsible for ChatGPT, in 2015 but stepped down from its board in 2018. Microsoft is one of the investors in OpenAI.
The official website for xAI announced an upcoming Twitter Spaces event scheduled for July 14, where further insights into the company’s plans are expected to be shared.
The xAI team boasts an impressive lineup of talent, including former Google DeepMind engineer Igor Babuschkin, ex-Google employee Tony Wu, former Google research scientist Christian Szegedy, and former Microsoft professional Greg Yang.
In March, Musk registered a new company called X.AI Corp in Nevada, listing himself as the sole director and Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk’s family office, as a secretary.
Earlier this year, Musk announced his intention to develop TruthGPT, an AI system focused on seeking maximum truth to rival Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI, both of which attempt to understand the fundamental nature of the universe.
Generative AI gained significant attention with the launch of OpenAI’s popular chatbot, ChatGPT, in November of the previous year, preceding the unveiling of Bard and Bing AI.
Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center for AI Safety, will serve as an advisor to the xAI team. His expertise revolves around analyzing the risks associated with AI.
While xAI operates independently from X Corp, Musk’s new venture will maintain close ties with Twitter, Tesla, and other companies, as indicated on the official website.
xAI is actively recruiting experienced engineers and researchers within the San Francisco Bay Area.
