Will Elon Musk’s TruthGPT Pose a Challenge to ChatGPT and Google?
Elon Musk announces plan to launch TruthGPT, a competitor to ChatGPT and Google
Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, has announced plans to create a new generative AI platform called TruthGPT that will compete against Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Musk views TruthGPT as a “third option” in the market, which he believes is currently dominated by these two AI heavyweights.
Elon Musk revealed his intention to create an AI platform that prioritizes seeking truth and understanding the universe. According to Musk, this approach could be the key to ensuring safety, as an AI that values knowledge is less likely to view humans as a threat and therefore less likely to harm us. However, Musk did not share any specific information about the development of TruthGPT. Elon Musk’s recent announcement confirms previous reports which stated his intentions to enter the generative AI competition. Musk has been putting together a team that includes a former engineer from a unit of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) to work on developing a competitor to ChatGPT.
Elon Musk has been in talks with Igor Babuschkin, a former engineer at Google’s DeepMind AI, to head a team of researchers working on the development of a rival to ChatGPT. It is uncertain whether other individuals approached by Musk have joined the project.
Musk is assembling a team of AI engineers and researchers, while also discussing investment opportunities for his new AI start-up with various investors in his other ventures, including SpaceX and Tesla. In addition to assembling a team of AI researchers, Elon Musk has reportedly ordered thousands of high-powered GPU chips from technology company Nvidia.
These chips are crucial for running multiple tasks at once and are necessary for building the large language models required for generative AI. Musk registered a company named X. Generative AI is a versatile technology that can produce various types of data, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, 3D objects, and videos. While it is influenced by existing data, generative AI is also capable of producing unexpected and novel outputs. The generative AI market is projected to reach US$188.62 billion by 2032. Goldman Sachs has estimated that generative AI could potentially drive a 7% increase in the global economy, which equates to nearly US$7 trillion.
It could also increase productivity growth by 1.5 percentage points over 10 years. The interest in generative AI has grown significantly, with investors pouring more than US$4.2 billion through 215 deals into start-ups focusing on this technology in 2021 and 2022. During the same period, US586 million in 20 deals has gone towards generative interfaces. Elon Musk co-founded the California-based start-up OpenAI in 2015 but left its board in 2018 due to disagreements over the company’s direction. In 2019, he tweeted that he left OpenAI to focus on Tesla and SpaceX. Recently, Musk has been critical of OpenAI’s approach to safety in its ChatGPT model.
