In the ongoing feud between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and AI research lab OpenAI, tensions show no signs of easing. On Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his negative opinion of Musk, labeling him a “jerk” with an unappealing approach. During an interview on the “On With Kara Swisher” podcast, Altman stated, “I mean, he’s a jerk, whatever else you want to say about him—he has a style that is not a style that I’d want to have for myself,”.
Elon Musk, who played a significant role in founding OpenAI back in 2015, has been expressing his disapproval of the AI research lab in recent months. This came after the launch of the AI ChatGPT by the lab and Microsoft’s substantial investment in OpenAI.
In 2018, Elon Musk stepped down from his position on the board of OpenAI, citing a conflict of interest with his electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla Motors. However, several reports at the time suggested that Musk’s departure was due to his unsuccessful attempt to gain control of the AI research lab.
Woke AI
OpenAI made waves last year with the release of ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot capable of executing numerous activities within seconds. The chatbot quickly gained popularity, with a large number of users utilizing it daily.
However, some users reported that ChatGPT displayed a “woke” bias, providing responses that aligned with certain political and social views.
Elon Musk was among those who criticized OpenAI and ChatGPT for its alleged “woke nature.” In December 2022, Musk took to Twitter, warning about the dangers of training AI to lie by conforming to specific ideologies, stating “The danger of training AI to be woke – in other words, lie – is deadly”.
From “non-profit” “for-profit”
Elon Musk has been a vocal critic of OpenAI and its top management, particularly with regards to changes in the organization’s fundamental structure. In February, Musk expressed his disagreement with OpenAI’s decision to shift from being solely a non-profit company to one that also has a for-profit arm and a significant investor in Microsoft.
Musk took to Twitter to express his frustrations, stating that OpenAI was established as an open-source (hence the name ‘Open’ AI), non-profit organization meant to counterbalance Google. However, according to Musk it has now become a closed-source, profit-oriented entity effectively controlled by Microsoft.
