A new artificial intelligence company has been launched by Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind SpaceX and Tesla. The company is called X.AI and was registered in Nevada last month, according to a document obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The document shows that Musk is the director of the company and Jared Birchall, who manages Musk’s family office, is the secretary. The company was incorporated on March 9th, 2023.
The news of Musk’s AI venture comes after several reports that he had been buying large quantities of graphic processing units (GPUs), which are used to power AI systems. Business Insider reported that Musk had acquired thousands of GPUs for a generative AI project that he was working on. The Financial Times also reported that Musk was planning to create an AI company that would rival OpenAI, the AI research organization that he co-founded in 2015 but left in 2018. Musk reportedly sought funding from investors in SpaceX and Tesla to start the company.
Musk did not confirm his plans to start an AI company when he was asked about his GPU purchases during a Twitter Spaces conversation. He said “it seems like everyone and their dog is buying GPUs at this point.” He also changed his Twitter name to X Corp. and added an “X” emoji to his bio, suggesting that he was working on something related to the letter X.
Musk has been vocal about his concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence, especially the kind of superintelligent AI that could surpass human intelligence and control. He has criticized OpenAI, which he helped create with the goal of ensuring that AI is aligned with human values and can benefit humanity. He has accused OpenAI of becoming too secretive and monopolistic, and has signed a letter calling for a moratorium on “giant AI experiments.” OpenAI has gained a lot of attention and influence in the AI field with its groundbreaking technologies such as ChatGPT and GPT-4, which can generate realistic text and images. OpenAI has also partnered with Microsoft, which has invested $1 billion in the organization and has integrated its AI tools into its products.OpanAI's GPT has started Race to be Best AI and which is partially responsible for Microsoft and Google’s current push to integrate AI tools more deeply into many of its products.
Musk’s new AI company, X.AI, could be seen as his attempt to challenge OpenAI and create his own vision of artificial intelligence. It is not clear what kind of products or services X.AI will offer or what its mission or values are. However, given Musk’s track record of innovation and ambition, it is likely that X.AI will be a significant player in the AI industry.
