In short
- Elon Musk said xAI used OpenAI models to train Grok, according to a TechCrunch report.
- This process, known as distillation, allows companies to replicate what they do at a lower cost.
- The revelation came amid Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI over its transition into a for-profit model.
Elon Musk said his technology company xAI used OpenAI models to train its Grok chatbot, according to report in Results TechCrunch.
Endorsement is a rare public endorsement by a leading AI expert of the practice under review. It comes as Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI moves forward in federal court, where the trial began this week and will examine the company’s management and AI landscape.
Musk made the comments Thursday while testifying in federal court in California, where he is suing OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and co-founder Greg Brockman. The lawsuit stems from Musk’s claims that OpenAI moved away from its original non-profit project.
During the interview, Musk was asked if xAI used distillation techniques for OpenAI models. He says the response was “incremental,” and described the process as a broader industry practice.
Musk founded OpenAI in 2015 with Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, and Wojciech Zaremba as a nonprofit focused on developing artificial intelligence for human benefit. Musk left the company in 2018.
Distillation refers to training a new AI system by querying an existing model via a public or API and using the output as learning signals. In February, Anthropic the accused Several Chinese AI developers are using fake accounts to get more responses from their Claude chatbot to train competing systems. Earlier this month, the White House he warned about “industrial” campaigns that use proxy accounts and prisons to compare US AI capabilities.
Musk’s testimony suggests that this method is being used by US AI companies, not foreign competitors.
Acceptable limits are unknown. Distillation is illegal, but it can raise questions if it violates the platform’s rules or terms that govern API usage.
Launched in July 2023, xAI he entered a market that included Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, companies with large teams and stable infrastructure. Earlier that year, Musk and other technical figures he signed an open letter calling for a six-month moratorium on the development of advanced AI machines, citing potential risks.
Musk’s statement suggests that the company may have used the technology of its previous companies to close the gap.
OpenAI and xAI did not immediately respond Decryptrequest for comments.
Daily Debrief A letter
Start each day with top stories right here, including originals, podcasts, videos and more.
