Elon Musk announced on Monday that his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, would be open-sourcing its ChatGPT competitor, “Grok”.
Coding artificial intelligence systems – illustrative photo. Image credit: Kevin Ku via Unsplash, free license
This decision comes shortly after Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the organization of deviating from its original mission in favor of a for-profit approach.
Musk has consistently voiced concerns about major technology companies, like Google, utilizing technology for financial gain. In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI revealed emails indicating Musk’s support for a for-profit entity and a potential merger with Tesla.
Musk’s move to open-source Grok allows the public to freely access and experiment with the underlying code, aligning xAI with companies like Meta and Mistral, both of which have open-sourced AI models. Google has also contributed to this trend by releasing an open-source AI model named Gemma, offering developers the opportunity to customize it based on their requirements.
While open-sourcing technology can accelerate innovation, concerns have been raised about the potential misuse of open-source AI models for malicious purposes, such as the development of chemical weapons or the creation of a super-intelligence beyond human control.
Musk has expressed his desire to establish a “third-party referee” to oversee AI development and raise alarms if needed. In an effort to provide an alternative to OpenAI and Google, Musk launched xAI last year with the goal of creating a “maximum truth-seeking AI.”
Musk had previously indicated his preference for open-source AI, emphasizing the original intent of OpenAI to be a nonprofit open-source organization before transitioning to a closed-source model for profit.
Written by Alius Noreika