Elon Musk has announced that his AI startup xAI will be releasing Grok, a chatbot meant to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as open-source software.
Initially a co-founder of OpenAI, Musk distanced himself from the organization some time ago to focus on his own AI projects, leading to a discord. Musk has taken legal steps against his former company and its current CEO, Sam Altman, accusing them of deviating from their original goal of creating AI for the betterment of humanity rather than profit.
Grok was unveiled to premium subscribers on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, in December 2024. It featured a real-time function showcasing a deep understanding of current affairs and was characterized as “snarky and anti-woke,” possibly challenging prevailing norms in online interactions.
This week, @xAI will open source Grok
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2024
Open AI’s Response to Elon Musk’s Allegations
In response to Musk’s legal actions, OpenAI issued a strong rebuttal discrediting the depth of Musk’s early involvement and impact on the AI startup.
In a joint blog post by Altman, Brockman, Schulman, Sutskever, and Zaremba, it was revealed that Musk’s financial contributions to OpenAI were less than $45 million despite his pledge of up to $1 billion in funding.
The organization highlighted that it had received over $90 million from other sources for its research, positioning Musk on the periphery of their journey.
OpenAI asserts that it has adhered to its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity by developing safe and beneficial AGI throughout its evolution.
An additional point of contention arises from Musk’s alleged request for OpenAI to merge with Tesla or grant him full control of the company.
This legal dispute holds significant implications for the AI landscape, affecting the power dynamics and trajectory of AI development as a whole.
Featured image: Midjourney
