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Elon Musk’s xAI launches chatbot with a ‘rebellious streak’

Nov 06, 2023

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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, launched a new chatbot named Grok, which is designed to answer questions “with a bit of wit.” Grok also has a “rebellious streak,” according to xAI.

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On Nov. 4, the chatbot was announced. It became available to a select group of users and it is intended to compete with ChatGPT, a chatbot created by OpenAI.

Musk co-founded OpenAI, but left the board in 2018.

Grok is still in its early stages of development, and xAI has called it a “very early beta product.”

Musk said that Grok has an advantage over other chatbots because it has real-time access to information through X, Musk’s social media platform. xAI has also said that Grok will answer “spicy” questions that are rejected by other AI systems.

The word grok was coined a 1961 science fiction novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” and it means “to understand profoundly and intuitively.”

The chatbot’s launch came days after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted an AI Safety Summit for world and tech leaders. At the end of that conference, he sat down for a live-streamed conversation with Musk.

During the conversation, Musk said that AI “will be a force for good most likely, but the probability of it going bad is not zero percent.”

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SHANNON LONGWORTH:AN AI CHATBOT THAT’S WITTY WITH A REBELLIOUS STREAK–

THAT’S HOW ELON MUSK’S AI COMPANY IS DESCRIBING ITS NEW PRODUCT, NAMED “GROK.”

RIGHT NOW, THE CHATBOT IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO A SMALL GROUP OF USERS, BUT IT’S DESIGNED TO EVENTUALLY COMPETE WITH CHATGPT.

NOTABLY, MUSK CO-FOUNDED OPENAI, WHICH CREATED CHATGPT, BUT LEFT THE BOARD IN 2018.

JUST THIS YEAR, HE LAUNCHED XAI.

IN THE COMPANY’S ANNOUNCEMENT SATURDAY, XAI CALLED GROK A “VERY EARLY BETA PRODUCT,” WITH REAL-TIME ACCESS TO INFORMATION THROUGH X. MUSK SAYS THIS WILL GIVE IT A LEG UP.

AND ACCORDING TO XAI’S ANNOUNCEMENT, GROK WILL *ALSO* ANSWER QUOTE “SPICY” QUESTIONS THAT ARE REJECTED BY MOST OTHER AI SYSTEMS.

THE NAME GROK MEANS “TO UNDERSTAND PROFOUNDLY AND INTUITIVELY.” IT WAS COINED IN A 1961 SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

GROK’S ARRIVAL COMES AFTER A WEEK OF DISCUSSION REGARDING POLICY AND INNOVATION IN THE AI SPACE. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK HOSTED AN AI SAFETY SUMMIT FOR WORLD AND TECH LEADERS. AT THE END OF THAT CONFERENCE, SUNAK SAT DOWN FOR A LIVE STREAMED CONVERSATION WITH MUSK.

ELON MUSK: “AI WILL BE A FORCE FOR GOOD MOST LIKELY, BUT THE PROBABILITY OF IT GOING BAD IS NOT ZERO PERCENT.”

LONGWORTH: WITH THAT BEING SAID, MUSK DESCRIBED A NEED FOR A REFEREE, OR SOME KIND OF OVERSIGHT FOR AI DEVELOPMENT.