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Key Takeaways
- Elon Musk said that xAI, his artificial intelligence startup, will open-source its chatbot Grok.
- Musk is suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the company abandoned its initial mission to make AI benefit all of humanity and has prioritized profit amid its ongoing partnership with Microsoft.
- OpenAI responded to the lawsuit by saying that Musk had previously supported the company pursuing profits and keeping some details of its tech private.
- Musk allegedly tried to attach OpenAI to Tesla and left the AI company shortly after corporate leaders objected.
Elon Musk said Monday that his artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI, will open-source its chatbot Grok, news that comes after he sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI claiming the company has abandoned its initial mission in favor of profits.
xAI launched Grok in Nov. 2023, though the product is only available to X Premium+ subscribers through an early access program.
Musk sued Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI and its Chief Executive Officer, Sam Altman, alleging that they breached the company’s founding mission, “to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.”
“Mr. Altman caused OpenAI to radically depart from its original mission and historical practice of making its technology and knowledge available to the public,” Musk alleged in the court filing, adding that “GPT-4’s internal design was kept and remains a complete secret except to OpenAI—and, on information and belief, Microsoft.”
Musk was an early investor in OpenAI when it launched in 2015, but left the company in 2018.
OpenAI responded to Musk’s claims, releasing emails from when Musk was involved in the company that they said show that Musk was supportive of the startup’s plans to pursue profits and keep some details of its projects out of the public eye.
The company said that it and Musk “couldn’t agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI,” and that he “suggested instead merging OpenAI” into Tesla (TSLA).
Musk, Tesla’s CEO, allegedly said in emails from 2018 that OpenAI should “attach to Tesla as its cash cow” and that “Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google.”
The company reported, “Elon soon chose to leave OpenAI, saying that [its] probability of success was 0.”
OpenAI’s governance came into the spotlight in Nov. 2023 after the company ousted Altman, with the board saying he was not candid in communications. Altman was quickly reinstated after hundreds of employees threatened to quit in solidarity with the co-founder.
Musk has had his own AI-related corporate governance challenges, as he has previously said that he wants 25% voting control of Tesla before advancing the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s position in the AI space.