Elon Musk, a wealthy businessman, gained notoriety earlier this year when he and more than 1,000 others, including well-known AI scientists, signed an open letter calling for a six-month freeze to the development of artificial intelligence. But it has now been revealed that Musk wasn’t just calling for a “pause”; he was also covertly developing his own AI projects at the same time.
A recent article in The New Yorker claims that while publicly advising caution, Musk was deeply involved in the creation of an AI project he called xAI. The story describes how Musk was hiring employees from competing businesses and luring specialists away from institutions like OpenAI, which he had co-founded and later left in 2018. Musk’s involvement with xAI extended further, as he engaged in conversations with executives at Nvidia, a prominent chip manufacturer catering to the AI industry. The report, citing insider information, suggests that Musk even filed registrations for xAI in the same month that he and others released the letter advocating for a temporary AI development halt.
As the news circulated in April, whispers emerged that Musk was reaching out to AI researchers with intentions of forming a new laboratory. Speculations also suggested that he was in discussions with investors associated with Tesla and SpaceX, exploring avenues for backing his AI initiative.
Musk eventually confirmed his aspirations to establish what he called “TruthGPT,” a high-reaching AI model designed to seek and understand the fundamental truths of the universe. This declaration further underscored his dual play – outwardly cautioning against unfettered AI development while quietly pursuing his own ambitious AI goals.
In July, Musk publicly announced the formation of xAI, with a lofty mission to unravel the mysteries of the universe’s true nature. The project’s website offers little detail about the technicalities but paints a grand vision of harnessing AI to grasp profound aspects of existence.
The revelation of Musk’s simultaneous advocacy for caution and his own covert AI activities casts a spotlight on the complexity of his motivations and strategic moves in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. It raises questions about the intentions behind the “pause” call and the dynamics of competition and innovation in the realm of artificial intelligence.