Elon Musk unveils xAI to take on OpenAI and ‘understand the true nature of the universe’

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur renowned for his ventures in electric cars, space exploration, and social media, has unveiled his highly anticipated artificial intelligence startup, xAI. The company aims to challenge the dominance of major technology firms in the AI field, specifically targeting the development of an alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Musk has been an outspoken advocate for caution and regulation in the development of AI. He has repeatedly expressed concerns about the potential "civilizational destruction" that could arise from the uncontrolled advancement of AI technology. In an effort to address these concerns, xAI will take a unique approach to ensure the safety of its AI systems.

During a Twitter Spaces event on Thursday, Musk outlined his plan to build a safer AI. Rather than relying on explicit programming of morality, xAI aims to create a "maximally curious" AI. Musk believes that by encouraging the AI to understand the true nature of the universe, it will prioritise pro-humanity actions. He highlighted the inherent interest and value of humanity, stating that it is more fascinating than anything else.

"If it tried to understand the true nature of the universe, that's actually the best thing that I can come up with from an AI safety standpoint. I think it is going to be pro-humanity from the standpoint that humanity is just much more interesting than not-humanity," Musk said.

Additionally, Musk predicted the arrival of superintelligence, AI that surpasses human intelligence, within the next five to six years. This projection highlights the urgency Musk feels in developing responsible and beneficial AI systems to ensure the technology's positive impact on society.

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While Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT, he stepped down from its board in 2018. Notably, Microsoft is an investor in OpenAI, illustrating the significant involvement of major technology players in AI development.

Musk has assembled a talented team for xAI, including engineers with experience at prominent tech companies. The team members include Igor Babuschkin, formerly of Google's DeepMind; Tony Wu, a former Google employee; Christian Szegedy, a research scientist at Google; and Greg Yang, who previously worked at Microsoft.

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In March, Musk registered a new company called X.AI Corp, based in Nevada, with himself as the sole director. This move indicates Musk's dedication to exploring AI technology further. Musk previously hinted at the launch of TruthGPT, an AI model focused on seeking maximum truth, aiming to rival Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing AI, both designed to understand the universe's intricacies.

The rise of generative AI gained significant attention with the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November of the previous year, preceding the launch of Bard and Bing AI. These chatbots showcased the capabilities of AI in generating human-like text responses.

To ensure a comprehensive approach to AI safety, xAI will benefit from the guidance of Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center for AI Safety. Hendrycks specialises in analysing the risks associated with AI systems.

Although xAI is a separate entity from X Corp, Musk's involvement in various influential companies such as Twitter and Tesla suggests a close collaboration between xAI and these ventures.

As xAI moves forward, the company is already actively seeking experienced engineers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area to join its team.

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