- Elon Musk announced via X (Twitter) that his AI company, xAI, will open-source its AI assistant Grok within the week, positioning it as a move towards transparency.
- Musk has sued OpenAI, claiming it violated its foundational agreement to prioritise human benefit over profit, accusing it of becoming a “de facto closed-source subsidiary” of Microsoft. Musk’s open-sourcing of Grok appears to challenge OpenAI to live up to its name, criticising the organisation for straying from its original open-source ethos.
OUR TAKE
Musk’s open-sourcing xAI’s large models may also be a strategic move. Currently, it’s unclear which models behind Grok will be open-sourced, but generally, releasing open-source models can facilitate extensive testing and feedback from the community, implying that the model itself can evolve more quickly.
— Chloe CHEN, BTW Media reporter
On March 11, Elon Musk announced this afternoon via X (Twitter) that his AI company, xAI, will open-source its artificial intelligence assistant, Grok, within the week.
Subsequently, in response to a netizen’s post that “OpenAI should do the same if they want to be ‘Open’ as their name suggests,” Musk remarked, “OpenAI is a lie.”
Also read: Elon Musk sues OpenAI over alleged mission drift towards profit
Also read: OpenAI: Musk’s investment and influence have been small
Musk announced a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Altman previously
This month, Musk announced a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Altman, claiming that OpenAI and CEO Altman violated the agreement upon which the company was founded, an agreement intended to advance AI technology for the benefit of humanity rather than profit.
Musk has made claims against OpenAI, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices, demanding the company to return to open source.
Musk want to urge OpenAI to revert to open source
By announcing the open-sourcing of Grok, Musk seems to want to ‘practice what he preaches’ to urge OpenAI to revert to open source. In the lawsuit, Musk stated, ‘OpenAI Inc. has turned into a de facto closed-source subsidiary of one of the world’s largest technology companies, Microsoft. Under its new board’s leadership, it is not merely developing but actually perfecting a general artificial intelligence (AGI) to maximise Microsoft’s profits, not for the benefit of humanity.’
Previously, Musk stated on the X platform that he would withdraw the lawsuit against OpenAI if they agreed to change their name to ‘ClosedAI.’ Musk further criticised OpenAI, stating that OpenAI is a lie.
