Elon Musk, the tech mogul behind companies like Tesla and SpaceX, has announced plans to make xAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) model Grok open source. This decision comes amidst a lawsuit filed by Musk against rival AI chatbot developer OpenAI. In a recent post on the X social media platform dated March 11th, Musk revealed that Grok would be available as open-source software starting from this week.
Elon Musk set to make Grok open-source
The move to make Grok open source has received largely positive responses from users, with many praising Musk for the decision. This announcement comes in the wake of a lawsuit Musk filed against OpenAI on February 29th, alleging a breach of agreement made when OpenAI was established as a nonprofit organization.
Musk contends that OpenAI’s recent partnership with Microsoft contradicts the founding principles of the nonprofit agreement, which aimed to advance open-source artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the betterment of humanity. According to Elon Musk, Microsoft’s investment of nearly $3 billion in OpenAI by the end of 2023 further complicates matters, as it suggests a shift away from OpenAI’s original mission towards more profit-driven objectives.
In his lawsuit, Elon Musk calls for OpenAI to return to its initial open-source principles and seeks an injunction to halt the for-profit exploitation of AGI technology. However, following the filing of the lawsuit, OpenAI executives released a joint statement revealing emails from Elon Musk that seemed to support the company’s transition into a for-profit entity. This revelation has added layers of complexity to the legal battle between Musk and OpenAI.
Since the initiation of the lawsuit, there have been organizational changes within OpenAI, including the reinstatement of CEO Sam Altman as a member of the board. Altman had been fired and subsequently re-hired in November 2023, with the board admitting that his departure had destabilized the company more than anticipated.
Musk’s intention for Grok and the OpenAI lawsuit
Musk’s decision to release Grok as open source aligns with his stated goals in the lawsuit to promote open-source AGI for the benefit of humanity. Grok, developed by Musk’s company xAI, is an AI chatbot similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but with the added capability to access real-time information via the X social media platform.
Unlike ChatGPT, Grok can tackle more contentious issues that other AI systems might avoid. However, access to Grok requires users to have a verified X account. In terms of performance, Grok AI, powered by the Grok-1 large language model, has been compared favorably to ChatGPT-3.5 but falls short of OpenAI’s latest model, ChatGPT-4, according to some assessments.
Elon Musk’s decision to make Grok open source represents a significant development in the ongoing debate over the future of AI development and its implications for society. By making Grok freely available to the public, Musk aims to foster greater collaboration and innovation in the field of artificial intelligence while also challenging the direction taken by organizations like OpenAI.
As the lawsuit between Musk and OpenAI continues to unfold, it raises important questions about the responsibilities of tech companies in advancing AI technologies and the ethical considerations surrounding their use. The outcome of this legal battle could have far-reaching implications for the future of AI development and the role of open-source principles in shaping its trajectory.
