Top line
Elon Musk’s long-teased artificial intelligence company will launch its first product on Saturday, the billionaire announced. announcement Friday, while offering few details about what the model will do, as companies compete for a share of the growing market and technology leaders lay out their visions for AI and the future of transformative technology.
Elon Musk said xAI will launch its first AI model on Saturday.
Highlights
xAI will release its first AI model to a “select group” of people on Saturday, Musk said in a statement. job on X.
Musk did not specify who would have access to the model first or what the model would do: An AI model is a general term for an algorithm that has been trained on a set of data to perform a particular task.
In “some important respects,” xAI’s model is “the best that exists right now,” Musk said, without elaborating.
Musk announced the launch of xAI in July with a aim “to understand the true nature of the universe.”
The company’s 12-person team is led by Musk and understand top researchers hired at top AI labs like Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Microsoft.
Musk has said he wants to build a company that can compete with industry leaders like DeepMind and OpenAI and is working on a alternative at ChatGPT (jokingly nicknamed “TruthGPT“).
Key context
Musk has long been interested in AI and has spoken for years about the need to manage the risks posed by the emerging technology. It was one co-founder and an early backer of ChatGPT creator OpenAI when the startup launched in 2015 and complaints, not without question, that he is the reason why the company exists today. Musk take a step left the company in 2018, allegedly after a failed takeover attempt, and has since publicly criticized it for prioritizing profits over safety. Musk is one of several high-profile tech leaders to urge caution about the potential risks AI poses to humanity, which have gained new momentum following the runaway success of ChatGPT and the glut of companies rushing to gain ground in the sector. Reports suggest that Musk wants to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), a form of intelligence that describes the kind of broad learning and action capabilities that humans have, rather than the narrower kinds of intelligence that power things that excel at specific tasks like chess. -reading program or facial recognition algorithm. On its website, xAI said it was separate from X Corp – Musk’s company legally changed Twitter’s name earlier this year – but would “work closely with other companies to progress towards our mission.
Tangent
Musk was one of the highest-profile names adding their star power to the high-profile UK AI Security Summit this week. The summit, billed as a landmark event for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of his party’s expected annihilation in the next general election, brand an international declaration by leaders in government, society and the technology industry to recognize the need to address the risks associated with the development of AI. Another diplomatic victory, the conference will continue next year with France as host.
Crucial quote
In a Q&A session with Sunak hosted on Musk said technology will eliminate the need to work – “you can have a job if you want a job”, however – but warned it should have an “off switch” as protection in case things go wrong and the AI is “not so friendly after all”.
Forbes Rating
$229.9 billion. How much is it Forbes believes Musk is worth. He is by far the richest person in the world, edging out French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault by around $45 billion. xAI is one of several companies led by Musk, a group that includes electric car maker Tesla, aerospace company SpaceX, app wannabe X (formerly social media platform Twitter), tech company brain implants Neuralink and the tunneling company Boring Company.
Further reading
Elon Musk to Attend Historic AI Security Summit Tomorrow: Here’s Who Else Will Attend and What You Need to Know (Forbes)
Elon Musk says he’s the reason ChatGPT owner OpenAI exists (CNBC)