Elon Musk Says xAI Will Open Source Grok, Throws Shade At OpenAI By Calling It A 'Lie'

Tech billionaire and xAI founder Elon Musk has announced that his company will open source the code of its AI chatbot Grok.

What Happened: Musk’s tweet also included a pointed criticism of OpenAI, calling the company itself a "lie."

The tweet quickly gained traction, sparking discussions about the future of AI and the principles behind OpenAI’s operations.

This week, @xAI will open source Grok

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2024

Musk’s statement is particularly significant given his history with the company and his recent legal actions against them.

Open source has been amongst one of the key demands that Musk has made from OpenAI, a company he co-founded with Sam Altman and others.

However, Musk left the company in 2018 after a fallout with Altman. He has since then been a vocal critic of OpenAI as well as Altman, going so far as accusing the company of "refining AGI" to "maximize profits" for its biggest investor, Microsoft Corp.

See Also: Microsoft Says Russian Hackers Stole Code After Spying On Top Executives: Attack Still ‘Ongoing’

Why It Matters: Musk’s contentious relationship with OpenAI, a company he co-founded, has been escalating. Recently, he filed a lawsuit against OpenAI’s leadership, including Altman.

The lawsuit specifically targets the partnership with Microsoft, which Musk believes has led to a betrayal of OpenAI’s founding principles.

Following the lawsuit, OpenAI assembled a team to respond, to which Musk replied "change your name" if they were not going to open-source their AI technology.

Support for Musk’s stance on open-sourcing AI has come from various tech figures, including venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky. They have argued against the notion that open-source software cannot be secure, with Andreessen stating, “The most secure software in the world is open source.”

Musk’s dissatisfaction with OpenAI’s trajectory has been a recurring theme. He has previously expressed concerns about the direction in which OpenAI has headed, especially with its association with Microsoft.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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