Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Monday that he plans to launch a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform called ‘TruthGPT’ to compete with Microsoft and Google’s offerings. He claimed that OpenAI, which is behind popular chatbot ChatGPT and backed by Microsoft, has been ‘training the AI to lie.’ In addition, Musk slammed Google co-founder Larry Page for being irresponsible with AI safety. The technical entrepreneur then stated that ‘TruthGPT’ is his attempt to create a platform that is ‘unlikely to annihilate humans.’
To further his ambitions to become the frontrunner in the AI market, Musk has been said to be poaching AI experts from Google to form a startup that would rival OpenAI. Subsequently, he registered X.AI Corp in Nevada with himself listed as the sole director and Jared Birchall, the manager of Musk’s family office, as a secretary.
Reiterating his previous stance on AI safety, Musk voiced his worries that AI can be more dangerous than other mismanaged creations, with the potential of ‘civilizational destruction.’ He went on to suggest that an AI that is powerful enough can potentially manipulate public opinions through its advanced writing capabilities. Ultimately, he expressed his aim to encourage the creation of AI regulations during his time as the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter.
OpenAI is a research laboratory co-founded by Musk that focuses on the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the betterment of humanity. It is a for-profit organization that has recently received a multi-billion dollar investment from Microsoft and works with many tech companies around the world. Musks stepped down from the board in 2018 so he can focus on other projects.
Elon Musk is an entrepreneur and investor and is currently the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. His current net worth is estimated to be around $45.6 billion. He successfully purchased Twitter for $44 billion and tweeted last month that the company is now worth ‘less than half’ of what he paid for it. Most recently, Musk has been actively vocal about AI safety and potential risks to humanity.
