Recently, Elon Musk founded xAI and it has already made a significant impact by announcing a substantial $6 billion funding round, as reported by The Verge. The company plans to use this funding to launch its first products, develop advanced infrastructure, and expedite research and development into future technologies.
Musk has a background in the AI industry, having co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with Sam Altman and others. However, he left the company in 2018 due to disagreements over its direction, particularly its shift towards proprietary AI models. Musk re-entered the AI space last year with the launch of xAI, focusing on building AI systems that are truthful, competent, and beneficial for humanity.
One of xAI’s initial offerings is Grok, a version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, currently exclusive to X Premium subscribers. Benchmark tests by xAI show that Grok-1 outperformed some models but fell behind others like Anthropic’s Claude3 and OpenAI’s GPT-4.
The recent funding round attracted investments from notable names like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Prince Al Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. xAI initially aimed to raise $1 billion but increased the target to $6 billion, which Musk initially denied.
Developing the necessary hardware for advanced AI systems is both challenging and expensive. xAI recently revealed the need for 100,000 of Nvidia’s H100 chips, each costing between $30,000 to $40,000, to power an upgraded version of Grok.
Musk plans to launch a new data center by fall 2025, using these resources to enhance xAI’s technological capabilities. The race for AI resources is costly, with major tech firms investing heavily in AI startups and projects.
Tesla continues to hire AI engineers for self-driving cars, despite Musk’s preference for focusing on external ventures. The company is preparing for its annual meeting where shareholders will decide on reinstating Musk’s significant pay package.
Musk’s contributions to AI research are evident, and xAI is now at the forefront of AI advancements. The evolution of xAI’s contributions in the rapidly changing AI landscape will be fascinating to observe.
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