Elon Musk's xAI to take first step towards launching AI model

Elon Musk's AI startup xAI will release its first AI model, which he claims is the best in existence, to a select group on Saturday. Know all about it.

xAI will launch its AI model to a select group tomorrow, Elon Musk said. (Bloomberg)

Elon Musk has been one of the most vocal figures warning us about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent times, which might cause us to perceive that he is an AI naysayer. However, the billionaire has an AI startup of its own called xAI which he launched in March 2023. While the goal of xAI was “to understand the true nature of the universe”, it has been developing its AI model in recent months. Now, xAI is all set to unveil its AI model, albeit to a select group.

xAI's AI model

This comes nearly a year after OpenAI's ChatGPT caught the imagination of businesses and users around the world, spurring a surge in adoption of generative AI technology.

In an X post, Musk announced, “Tomorrow, @xAI will release its first AI to a select group. In some important respects, it is the best that currently exists.”

The billionaire who has been critical of Big Tech's AI efforts and censorship said earlier this year that he would launch a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe to rival Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing AI.

Though Musk-owned X, the social media firm formerly known as Twitter, and xAI are separate, the companies work closely together. xAI also works with Tesla and other companies.

Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and a self-described close friend of Musk, said in September that xAI had signed a contract to train its AI model on Oracle's cloud.

Musk on AI

In recent times, Elon Musk has been very vocal about the dangers posed by AI and the importance of its regulation. In an interview with Tucker Carlson in April, Musk said, “AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production, in the sense that it is, it has the potential — however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial — it has the potential of civilization destruction”.

Speaking about AI while attending the AI Safety Summit in the UK, Musk said, “There is some chance, above zero, that AI will kill us all. I think it's slow but there is some chance. I think this also concerns the fragility of human civilization. If you study history, you will realise that every civilisation has a sort of lifespan."

(With inputs from Reuters)