one year on
Elon Musk launches xAI, a new artificial intelligence company
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO unveils a startup with a team of alumni from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, and Tesla, aiming to 'understand the true nature of the universe'.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of Twitter, today announced the formation of xAI, a new artificial intelligence company. The company’s stated mission is ‘to understand the true nature of the universe’. According to its website, xAI will hold a live Twitter Spaces chat on Friday to share further details.
The founding team includes alumni of DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Twitter and Tesla. Their prior projects include DeepMind’s AlphaCode and OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4. Greg Yang, a co-founder, said the startup will explore ‘the mathematics of deep learning’ and develop a ‘theory of everything’ for large neural networks. The company was incorporated in Nevada in March, according to reports.
Musk has long been critical of existing AI firms, warning in an April Fox News interview that they prioritize ‘politically correct’ systems. He proposed a rival tool called TruthGPT at the time. xAI’s website states it ‘will work closely with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies’ despite being a separate entity from X Corp. The announcement reignites debates over AI safety and competition among Big Tech rivals.
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
xAI went on to launch Grok, a chatbot marketed with a 'rebellious' personality, in November 2023. In 2024, xAI raised $6 billion at a $24 billion valuation, and Grok was integrated into X Premium subscriptions. None of the founding team's AlphaCode or GPT work directly transferred, but the company became a prominent player in the chatbot race.