Elon Musk’s xAI and OpenAI Engage in a Competition to Develop Superintelligent AI
Elon Musk, the renowned tech entrepreneur, is once again pushing boundaries and throwing down challenges to his fellow CEOs. Besides his infamous desire to engage in a physical fight with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, Musk is now embarking on a race with OpenAI to create artificial intelligence (AI) that surpasses human intelligence.
During a discussion on Twitter Spaces this past Saturday, Musk revealed that his new company, xAI, is in direct competition with OpenAI. He shared his plans for the development of good advanced AI, also known as superintelligence.
Musk referred to superintelligence as Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, and expressed his belief that it is inevitable. He stated, It really seems that at this point it looks like AGI is going to happen so there’s two choices, either be a spectator or a participant. As a spectator, one can’t do much to influence the outcome.
In an effort to avoid a monopolistic control over AI, Musk emphasized the need for multiple companies to be actively involved in its development. According to him, You don’t want to have a unipolar world where one company dominates in AI.
During the 100-minute discussion, which attracted over 1.6 million listeners, Musk outlined his vision for xAI. He plans to utilize Twitter data to train superintelligent AI that possesses a curious and truth-seeking nature.
Musk’s relationship with OpenAI and its co-founder, Sam Altman, has experienced strain over the years. It was initially reported by Semafor that Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but eventually left the organization due to disagreements with the board and Altman.
Interestingly, OpenAI recently announced the creation of a dedicated team to address the challenges associated with controlling superintelligent AI and ensuring its alignment with human interests. In a blog post, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and the co-head of the new team, Jan Leike, acknowledged the lack of a solution for steering or controlling such advanced AI, highlighting the need to prevent it from going rogue. They also stated that while superintelligent AI may seem distant, it could become a reality within the next decade.
Prominent figures in the tech industry, including Musk and OpenAI’s CEO, have been vocal about the potential risks posed by superintelligent AI, warning that it could be as catastrophic for human civilization as nuclear war or pandemics.
As of now, Musk has not responded to Insider’s request for comment regarding this matter.
In conclusion, Elon Musk’s xAI and OpenAI are engaged in a competitive race to develop AI that surpasses human intelligence. Musk’s xAI aims to train superintelligent AI using Twitter data, while OpenAI has established a specialized team to ensure the proper control and alignment of advanced AI with human interests. This ongoing race underscores the critical need for multiple companies to be actively involved in the development of AI, preventing the dominance of a single entity in this field.
