Sam Altman, co-founder of artificial intelligence company OpenAI, says that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been upset at the success of ChatGPT.
Sam Altman Says He Is ‘Very Grateful' For Elon Musk's Help With OpenAI
In an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, Altman shared that he was "very grateful" for Musk's help with OpenAI, which he also co-founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization.
"I really, for a long time, looked up to him as just an incredible hero and great jewel of humanity," Altman said; however, he added that he had "different feelings" about Musk now and he has traits that Altman "doesn't admire."
"He kind of told us we had a 0% chance of success," Altman said and outlined that Musk felt that OpenAI wasn't on the right trajectory. "Then we did okay and I think he got understandably upset," Altman said, adding that Musk has since then run his "kind of competitive clone" with xAI and has tried to "slow us [OpenAI] down and sue us."
ChatGPT's Potential Military Applications
Carlson also asked Altman about the potential applications of ChatGPT, the company's AI model, in the military. Altman said that he suspected that military personnel did use the AI model for advice.
"I am totally aware of the fact that there's probably people in our military using it for advice about how to do their jobs and I don't exactly know how to feel about that," he said.
It's worth noting that OpenAI recently landed a partnership with the Trump administration, offering Federal agencies access to ChatGPT for $1 over the next year. OpenAI also has partnerships in place with agencies like the Air Force Research Lab and NASA, among others.
OpenAI also landed a $200 million defense contract to develop AI capabilities for national security purposes. The Department of War had said that the partnership would "address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains."
xAI's Apple And OpenAI Lawsuit, $40 Billion Investment
The news comes as xAI recently filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and OpenAI over allegations of favoritism of ChatGPT over competitors like xAI's Grok and other AI models in the Apple App Store. The company has sought billions in damages.
xAI has also invested $40 billion in its data center in Memphis, which houses the Colossus 1 supercomputer and hosts the AI model Grok. However, the data center has been at the center of criticism from rights groups over its potential damage to the local environment, which they allege disproportionately affects the African American community in Memphis.
Elon Musk's AI Push, Optimus Predictions
Meanwhile, Musk has been pushing for artificial intelligence and robotics, as evidenced by Tesla's newly unveiled Master Plan IV, which focuses heavily on AI. Interestingly, the Master Plan IV had little mention of EVs
Musk, in a recent appearance at an event, had said that Tesla was in the process of finalizing a design for the Optimus version 3 robot, which had the potential to "be the biggest product ever." Musk had also said that the robot would represent over 80% of Tesla's future value.
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