Elon Musk's new AI company, xAI, will release its chatbot to X subscribers who pay $16 per month once it exits beta. A select group of X users started testing Grok, a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, this weekend. Musk laid out his heady ambitions for xAI earlier this year, saying in July that its intended purpose is, quite literally, "to understand the true nature of the universe." Having said that, Musk says Grok will wield a sense of humor, like this… banter sewn into a guide to making cocaine, which must be funny to someone. Grok's notable feature is its real-time access to information published on X, which Musk claims will be "a massive advantage over other models."

We've been hearing rumblings about Elon Musk's new AI venture, xAI, for months, and now it looks like it's almost here. The Tesla CEO and noted social media guru just took to Twitter/X to proclaim that his AI venture will launch its first model tomorrow, November 4. This is a beta phase, of a sort, as it's being released only to a "select group", though Musk didn't specify as to what went into the selection process. Will it be a random drop or will the AI model be reserved for "VIPs" like, uh, Tucker Carlson, Chaya Raichik or the indefatigable Catturd? Musk is making lofty promises about his AI, announcing that "in some important respects, it is the best that currently exists." It'll be competing with big-time offerings by OpenAI, Google, Meta and numerous others, so we'll see what "important respects" make it the best that currently exists.

Musk has been outspoken about AI for years, famously saying in 2014 that inventing super-intelligent computers would be like "summoning the demon" and could create an existential threat to humanity. He helped found ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, in 2015, but left the company in 2018 after disagreements with its other leaders. Over the past few months, he has complained about OpenAI and other AI companies scraping Twitter data to help train their bots.

Its 12-strong team plans to "understand the true nature of the universe", according to an announcement posted on the xAI website. "I don't know what the deal with the Xs is," says Catherine Flick at De Montfort University, UK. "He obviously just likes Xs." It is an extension of Musk's longstanding interest in AI and his return to the field after pulling funding from OpenAI back in 2018. Musk had been the primary bankroller for the company – which created ChatGPT – at its launch in 2015, appearing on stage at an academic conference announcing $1 billion in funding. Musk reportedly withdrew from OpenAI after he bid to take over running it, worrying it had lost ground to Google in developing AI technology, and was rejected by co-founder Sam Altman.

Elon Musk wants to "understand the true nature of the universe." At least that's what his new AI company, xAI, said on its website as he announced its formation on Wednesday. Musk incorporated xAI in Nevada in March this year and reportedly purchased "roughly 10,000 graphics processing units"--hardware that is required to develop and run state-of-the-art AI systems. The company has not said how it is financed but the Financial Times reported in April that Musk was discussing getting funding from investors in SpaceX and Tesla, two companies he runs. The company has not shared much detail about its intentions, but said on its website that its team would be joining a Twitter Spaces call on July 14 to take questions.

Elon Musk, who has been critical of artificial intelligence lately, appears to be planning to infiltrate the industry with his own company, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times reported. It has been reported that Musk has founded a new AI company called X.AI Corp, based on a government file last month seen by sources, which confirmed that Musk was listed as the state-based company's "sole director" American from Nevada. Elon Musk is known to prefer the letter "X", and recently renamed "Twitter Corp", in "X Corp". And Musk is no stranger to AI projects. He co-founded OpenAI before leaving the company nearly a decade ago.

Elon Musk has created a new company dedicated to artificial intelligence -- and it's called X.AI, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company, which a Nevada filing indicates was incorporated last month, currently has Musk as its director and Jared Birchall, the director of Musk's family office, listed as its secretary. The filing, which The Verge has also obtained, indicates that Musk incorporated the business on March 9th, 2023.

It was only a matter of time before the culture wars came to AI. Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, Elon Musk has railed on Twitter against what he has called "Woke AI." He has specifically criticized ChatGPT's developer, OpenAI, for the features designed to prevent the chatbot from parroting racism and sexism. Now, the billionaire is courting AI researchers with a proposal to start a new AI company to rival the developer of ChatGPT, the tech news site The Information reported on Wednesday. "The danger of training AI to be woke--in other words, lie--is deadly," Musk tweeted in December.

After two and a half incredible years leading data at Spotify -- following Spotify's acquisition of my last startup -- I left a couple of weeks ago to start a new company. We'll be using data and AI to tackle a world problem that I've been circling around for some time -- and that now feels critical and solvable. I wanted to share why I'm embarking on this new endeavor, what I hope we'll accomplish, and an invitation to join us. I've always viewed entrepreneurship as a way to rapidly, independently, and sustainably solve problems you observe in society. Against the backdrop of a rising, anti-scientific movement in 2005, I started a magazine to counter that cultural force and advance science's place in society.