Technology
Elon Musk says he will launch rival to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT
Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he will launch an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that he calls "TruthGPT" to challenge the offerings from Microsoft and Google.
He criticised Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the firm behind chatbot sensation ChatGPT, of "training the AI to lie" and said OpenAI has now become a "closed source", "for-profit" organisation "closely allied with Microsoft".
He also accused Larry Page, co-founder of Google, of not taking AI safety seriously.
"I'm going to start something which I call 'TruthGPT', or a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe," Musk said in an interview with Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson aired on Monday.
He said TruthGPT "might be the best path to safety" that would be "unlikely to annihilate humans".
"It's simply starting late. But I will try to create a third option," Musk said.
Musk, OpenAI, Microsoft and Page did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Musk has been poaching AI researchers from Alphabet Inc's Google to launch a startup to rival OpenAI, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Musk last month registered a firm named X.AI Corp, incorporated in Nevada, according to a state filing. The firm listed Musk as the sole director and Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk's family office, as a secretary.
'CIVILIZATIONAL DESTRUCTION'
The move came even after Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives called for a six-month pause in developing systems more powerful than OpenAI's newly launched GPT-4, citing potential risks to society.
Musk also reiterated his warnings about AI during the interview with Carlson, saying "AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production" according to the excerpts.
"It has the potential of civilizational destruction," he said.
He said, for example, that a super intelligent AI can write incredibly well and potentially manipulate public opinions.
He tweeted over the weekend that he had met with former US President Barack Obama when he was president and told him that Washington needed to "encourage AI regulation".
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but he stepped down from the company's board in 2018. In 2019, he tweeted that he left OpenAI because he had to focus on Tesla and SpaceX.
He also tweeted at that time that other reasons for his departure from OpenAI were, "Tesla was competing for some of the same people as OpenAI & I didn’t agree with some of what OpenAI team wanted to do."
Also, Tesla was competing for some of same people as OpenAI & I didn’t agree with some of what OpenAI team wanted to do. Add that all up & it was just better to part ways on good terms.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2019
Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has also become CEO of Twitter, a social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.
In the interview with Fox News, Musk said he recently valued Twitter at "less than half" of the acquisition price.
In January, Microsoft Corp announced a further multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI, intensifying comPetition with rival Google and fueling the race to attract AI funding in Silicon Valley.
-
Technology2h ago
Jon Stewart Is Right About the Dangers of AI
-
Technology2h ago
How TIME and Statista Determined the World’s Top EdTech Companies of 2024
-
Technology3h ago
What is ‘techno-optimism’? 2 technology scholars explain the ideology that says technology is the answer to every problem
-
Technology8h ago
Claude 3 Opus has stunned AI researchers with its intellect and 'self-awareness' — does this mean it can think for itself?
-
Technology8h ago
Scientists create 'toxic AI' that is rewarded for thinking up the worst possible questions we could imagine
-
Technology10h ago
For millions of Americans, high-speed internet is unavailable or unaffordable − a telecommunications expert explains how to bring broadband to the places that need it the most
-
Technology10h ago
From shrimp Jesus to fake self-portraits, AI-generated images have become the latest form of social media spam
-
Technology17h ago
TikTok Vows to Fight Its Ban. Here’s How the Battle May Play Out