Elon Musk-owned xAI to open-source Grok chatbot this week
Elon Musk has revealed that his AI start-up, xAI, plans to open-source its ChatGPT rival, Grok, this week. This move comes after Musk's recent lawsuit against Microsoft-backed OpenAI, a company he co-founded in 2015 but left in 2018. He accused OpenAI of straying from its original mission and adopting a profit-driven model. Launched last year, Grok offers real-time information access and challenges politically correct views. It's available to customers who pay for X's $16 (Rs. 1,324) monthly subscription.
Aligning with open-source AI models
By making Grok open-source, xAI joins companies like Meta and France's Mistral, which have already shared their AI models with the public. This allows anyone to freely experiment with the technology's code. Google has also released an AI model called Gemma, which lets outside developers modify it as needed. The open-source AI debate has been fueled by tech investors like OpenAI supporter Vinod Khosla and Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Intense debate over open-source AI
Musk's legal battle with OpenAI has ignited discussions among tech experts and investors about the value of open-source AI. Khosla called the lawsuit a "massive distraction from the goals of getting to AGI and its benefits." Meanwhile, Andreessen accused Khosla of "lobbying to ban open-source" AI research. Andreessen's firm, a16z, has also backed Mistral.
Concerns and future plans for AI
While open-sourcing can speed up innovation, experts warn that open-source AI models could be misused to create weapons or even develop a super-intelligence beyond human control. At last year's AI Safety Summit in the UK, Musk expressed his desire for a "third-party referee" to oversee AI development firms and raise concerns if needed. In search of an alternative to OpenAI and Google, Musk founded xAI to create a "maximum truth-seeking AI" and launched Grok for Premium+ subscribers of X.
Tesla and X have also open-sourced codes
Musk has been a proponent of open-sourcing codes for a long time. EV maker Tesla, another company headed by him, has open-sourced several of its patents. Back in 2014, Musk said, "Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology." X also open-sourced certain algorithms in 2023.
