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Elon Musk could create his own ChatGPT to end ‘artificial intelligence woke’

Elon Musk is reportedly about to embark on a new project: developing his own alternative to ChatGPT. The tycoon intends to create a new artificial intelligence laboratory to rival OpenAI, of which he was the founder.

Everything indicates that Elon Musk’s next crusade will be against OpenAI and ChatGPT. According to The Information, the tycoon intends to create a new artificial intelligence laboratory to rival the startup led by Sam Altman, of which he was a founder, in order to develop an alternative to the chatbot that is currently on everyone’s lips.

To achieve this, Elon Musk has reportedly begun to approach various researchers in the field of AI. In fact, the aforementioned media reports that the entrepreneur has already recruited Igor Babuschkin, one of the most notorious exponents of the sector, who until recently was part of Google’s DeepMind project.

Babuschkin himself said he would like to work with the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter in the field of large-scale language modeling, the technology that, among other things, is used to power tools such as ChatGPT. However, he clarified that the project is at a very early stage, that there is still no plan for the development of specific products and that, in fact, he has not yet officially joined Elon Musk’s proposal.

For the moment, the tycoon has chosen not to make public statements about this possibility. Although it would not be strange if he soon begins to talk about it through Twitter, as he usually does. What is certain is that the possibility of creating a new lab to rival OpenAI and ChatGPT seems to be more latent than ever, especially given his increasingly critical stance against Sam Altman’s Microsoft-funded startup.

Elon Musk to go after his own ChatGPT

While Elon Musk has been impressed by ChatGPT’s capabilities, his acidic comments against the chatbot and its developers have been quite recurrent of late. The entrepreneur has said the GPT-3.5-based tool is “so good it’s scary,” but has also been critical of OpenAI’s moves to prevent it from answering questions on sensitive topics. “The danger of training an AI to be woke – to lie, in other words – is deadly,” he tweeted at the time.

The supposed woke-ism of things is one of Elon Musk’s favorite arguments when it comes to making criticisms or establishing points of view. And artificial intelligence is clearly not spared from that characterization, at least in his mind. Despite this, Igor Babuschkin denied that the billionaire’s intention is to create a ChatGPT rival with more lax security guidelines. Although, knowing the businessman’s attitudes, never say never.

Beyond his alleged plan to create a new artificial intelligence lab, it is a reality that Elon Musk has had OpenAI in his sights in recent times. On Twitter, he recently posted: “OpenAI was created as a non-profit Open Source company (that’s why I called it ‘Open’ AI) to serve as a counterweight to Google, but has now become a closed, profit-maximizing company effectively controlled by Microsoft. Not what I intended at all.”

Darts against OpenAI and the call for regulation

Something similar was recently stated by Elon Musk at the World Government Summit held in Dubai. At that event he remarked that he was a fundamental part of the creation of OpenAI, which was born in response to concerns about Google’s lack of attention to the security of artificial intelligence. But he indicated that the company deviated from that original premise and stressed that he no longer had any ties or decision-making power over it.

During his presentation, he asserted that AI is one of the greatest risks to the future of civilization, and called for regulation. “The challenge here is that regulation tends to be set up in reaction to when something bad happens. But if something bad happens with artificial intelligence, the reaction from a regulatory standpoint can be very slow,” he asserted at the time.

Will we see a rival to OpenAI and ChatGPT funded by Elon Musk? It’s hard to say today, but the idea is not far-fetched at all.