Elon Musk is reportedly working on an OpenAI rival

By Vlad Schepkov

Elon Musk is said to be working on an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up that will rival ChatGPT’s maker and owner OpenAI, as reported by the Financial Times late Friday.

According to people familiar with the matter, the billionaire is putting together a team of artificial intelligence researchers and engineers, and has already “secured thousands of high-powered GPU processors from Nvidia” (NASDAQ:) required to power a large language model, “similar to the technology that powers ChatGPT.”

While specifics about the project or its purpose are yet to emerge, Elon Musk is reportedly already pitching the idea to existing investors in his other ventures, namely Tesla (NASDAQ:) and SpaceX, with potential backers not shying away: “A bunch of people are investing in it…it’s real and they are excited about it” – one source added.

Musk himself is yet to make a comment, but if confirmed, the start-up is almost certain to put pressure on existing players in the field, such as OpenAI’s biggest investor Microsoft (NASDAQ:), Google’s parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:), and their Chinese counterparts Alibaba (NYSE:) and Baidu (NASDAQ:).

The move also follows Elon Musk’s recent criticism of ChatGPT’s owner OpenAI with the billionaire questioning OpenAI becoming “$30B market cap for-profit” after his non-profit-intended $100 million donation to the foundation, as well as ChatGPT’s alleged censorship algorithms. He has also been vocal in sharing his broader concerns about the technology, going as far as to sign an open letter calling for a six-month ban on AI research, and seeking international regulation of the technology.