Elon Musk wants to build a "maximum truth-seeking AI" called TruthGPT

Kaan Pinar -

In a classic Elon Musk move, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced his intention to create TruthGPT, a "maximum truth-seeking AI chatbot" that's all about understanding the nature of the universe.

  • This reveal comes just three weeks after Musk signed an open letter calling for a six-month break from work on AI systems more powerful than OpenAI's ChatGPT-4.

During a chat on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Musk dished on the dangers of rapid AI development, hinting that chatbots like ChatGPT and Google's Bard might be a bit too "politically correct" for his taste. Although he didn't offer solid evidence for these claims or spill the beans on what a "truth-seeking AI" would actually look like, it's clear Musk has some concerns.

AI Leaders United: Musk's words echo recent anxieties from other tech bigwigs, such as billionaire investor Mark Cuban, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

  • Pichai mentioned that AI like Bard can "hallucinate" answers, conjuring up responses that sound legit but are totally off the mark.

Musk vs OpenAI: Never one to shy away from controversy, Musk took aim at OpenAI's switcheroo from a nonprofit to a "capped-profit" organization in 2019.

  • This change allowed for external funding and partnerships, like the one with Microsoft that helped train ChatGPT-4.
  • According to Musk, for-profit status might just muddy the ethical waters of AI program development.

What To Expect When You're Not Expecting: Although he's fashionably late to the chatbot party, Musk is determined to create a third option, spurred on by concerns about the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership and Google's market stranglehold. However, don't hold your breath for a release date: given Musk's history of starting (and sometimes abandoning) ambitious projects like The Boring Company's high-speed tunnels or Neuralink's computerized brain implants, it's anyone's guess when TruthGPT will hit the scene.