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$230 Billion worth Elon Musk fights with ChatGPT founder Sam Altman over Best AI bot involving Grok
The AI bot wars are heating up. A friendly social media spat broke out this week between former partners Elon Musk and Sam Altman over whose artificial intelligence chatbot comes out on top - Musk's latest creation Grok or Altman's crown jewel, ChatGPT. The two tech titans have history, co-founding OpenAI in 2015 before a falling out led Musk to strike out on his own. Now their competing AI bots represent diverging philosophies on creating the best augmented intelligence.
Elon Musk Launches Grok, a ChatGPT Alternative
Musk revealed his new AI bot Grok last week via his startup xAI. Grok is positioned as a more irreverent, witty alternative to ChatGPT and other stiff AI interlocutors. "Grok is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit," Musk tweeted, warning "Please don’t use it if you hate humor." This rebellious streak sets Grok apart from dry bots like ChatGPT, injecting some much-needed personality into AI conversations.
Sam Altman Throws Shade With GPT Builder
Sam Altman, current CEO of OpenAI, responded by demonstrating his company's new GPT chatbot builder. In screenshots shared on social media, Altman asked the tool to create a bot with "cringey boomer humor" and suggested naming it "Grok" - a clear jab at Musk's creation. Altman indicated that OpenAI's advanced GPTs make alternative AI chatbots unnecessary, tweeting "GPTs can save a lot of effort."
Musk and Grok Fire Back at OpenAI
Musk clapped back by having Grok itself mock OpenAI's flagship GPT-4 as being as "funny as a screendoor on a submarine" and humorless overall. "Humor is clearly banned at OpenAI, just like the many other subjects it censors. That’s why it couldn’t tell a joke if it had a goddamn instruction manual," Grok roasted in a rebuttal tweet penned by Musk. This exchange highlights Musk's more freewheeling approach to AI building compared to OpenAI's cautious content moderation policies.
Rich History Between Musk and Altman
Musk and Altman have a tangled history intertwined with the origins of OpenAI itself. They co-founded the nonprofit AI research organization along with others in 2015 as partners before a schism emerged. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 over disagreements about its direction, wanting to steer it more aggressively than the board allowed. There was a reported failed attempt by Musk to take over leadership before his ouster. While claiming he exited on "good terms", Musk has criticized OpenAI for going closed source and working closely with Microsoft. Despite past fallouts, the two innovators clearly still influence each other in pushing artificial intelligence forward.
The Future of AI Bots
This friendly public argument between Altman and Musk brings to the surface an emerging debate - how much personality, humor, and edge should be built into AI bots as the technology advances? OpenAI has taken a clinical, conservative approach, while Musk favors more idiosyncrasy and envelope-pushing AI. These dueling philosophies are embodied in ChatGPT and Grok.
It remains to be seen which vision will win over consumers searching for the best bot companion as the AI space explodes. But with these former partners spurring each other's competitive juices, innovation in augmented intelligence appears destined to accelerate.
Conclusion
While their sparring argument on social media was lighthearted, it represents the serious competition unfolding between OpenAI and Musk's xAI in the red-hot artificial intelligence arena. The world should expect more verbal clashes between these tech titans as they push their dueling visions for the future of AI assistants. But for all their differences, Musk and Altman still share the same overarching goal - to advance beneficial AI that improves lives. With these two leading pioneers striving in parallel, the final winning AI bot may incorporate the best of both their worlds.
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