Entrepreneur Elon Musk has recently grabbed the attention of tech circles by setting up an artificial intelligence (AI) focused company named X.AI. After filing a document in the U.S. in Nevada last month, Musk was named a director and Jared Birchall, the director of Musk’s family office, was appointed as the secretary. The Verge was able to obtain the same filing, which was stated to be on March 9.
Speculations have been running high that Musk was setting up an AI project that could be a possible rival to OpenAI, an organization backed by Microsoft. In line with such premises, Business Insider reported that the billionaire also purchased numerous GPUs (graphic processing units) for a related AI development. Moreover, the Financial Times disclosed that Tesla and SpaceX investors were also pursued by Musk in order to fund the new venture.
The project takes its branding from ‘X Corp’, a label given by Musk to Twitter and his vision of an “everything app.” In the past Musk was the co-founder of the OpenAI platform but in 2018 he dissociated himself and frequently expresses himself in public as a critic of it. OpenAI is, in fact, best known for their groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT, giving rise to giant players such as Microsoft and Google, putting pressure on them to upscale their own AI capabilities. This concern about the sudden development and deployment of AI technology has led to a letter signed by Musk, alongside other renowned names, who are all seeking a suspension from these “giant AI experiments”.
X.AI is a newly established firm looking to revolutionize AI technology. Led by tech mogul Elon Musk, with executives such as Jared Birchall aiding his vision, the company seeks to meet the ever-growing demand of advancements in AI. While it is not known what the company’s exact plans are, it is certainly a formidable competitor to Microsoft’s OpenAI. With the backing of various investors, the company is well-equipped with the resources to reach a higher level of success in the future.
