Musk criticizes OpenAI in his pitch, saying ‘no one killed themselves because of Grok’
In a newly released statement filed in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, the tech executive attacked OpenAI’s security record, saying his company, xAI, prioritizes security. He even went so far as to say “No one killed themselves because of Grok, but apparently they did because of ChatGPT.”
The comment came in a line of questioning about a public letter Musk signed in March 2023. In it, he asked AI labs to suspend the development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4, the dominant OpenAI model at the time, for at least six months. The letter, signed by more than 1,100 people, including many AI experts, said there is not enough planning and management going on in AI labs, as they are locked in “an uncontrollable race to develop and produce super-powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can reliably understand, predict, or control.”
That fear has gained credibility. OpenAI is now facing a series of lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT’s chat tactics have led several people to suffer negative mental health effects, some to die by suicide. Musk’s comments suggest that these incidents could be used as fodder in his case against OpenAI.
A transcript of Musk’s video testimony, which took place in September, was made public this week, ahead of an expected jury trial next month.
The lawsuit against OpenAI centers on the company’s transition from a non-profit AI research lab to a for-profit company, which Musk says violated its founding agreements. As part of his arguments, Musk says AI security could be compromised by OpenAI’s commercial partnership, as such a partnership would put speed, scale, and revenue above security concerns.
However, since that recording, xAI has addressed its security. Last month, Musk iX’s social media was flooded with inappropriate nude photos produced by xAI’s Grok, some of which were said to be of children. This led the California Attorney General’s office to open an investigation into the matter. The EU is also conducting an investigation, and other governments have taken action, with some bans and restrictions.
In a newly filed letter, Musk said he signed the AI security letter because it “seems like a good idea,” not because he recently founded an AI company that wants to compete with OpenAI.
“I signed up, as many people did, to urge caution about AI development,” Musk said. “I just wanted … AI safety to be prioritized.”
Musk also addressed other questions in the transcript, including one about artificial general intelligence, or AGI — the concept of AI that can match or surpass human reasoning in a variety of tasks — saying it’s “dangerous.” He also confirmed that he was “wrong” about his $100 million donation to OpenAI; The second amended complaint in the lawsuit puts the actual amount closer to $44.8 million.
He also recalled why OpenAI was founded, which, in his opinion, was because he was “very concerned about the risk of Google being alone in AI,” adding that his conversations with Google founder Larry Page “were scary, because he didn’t seem like he was taking AI security seriously.” OpenAI was created as a counterweight to that threat, Musk said.
