Get ready for a dose of humor in the tech world! Elon Musk has just unveiled “Grok,” a new artificially intelligent chatbot on his social platform, X (formerly known as Twitter). Musk, the owner of X for a year now, claims that Grok shares his sarcastic sense of humor.
Grok is still in its early testing phase but is being trained with real-time access to information from the platform, according to Musk. The AI startup behind Grok, xAI, drew inspiration from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a comedy sci-fi novel by Douglas Adams.
Musk’s announcement on X reads, “Grok loves sarcasm. I have no idea who could have guided it this way.” The bot is designed to answer questions with wit and has a rebellious streak, making it a fun addition for those who enjoy a good laugh.
Soon, Grok will be available to subscribers of X’s Premium+ service, where users in the United States pay $16 a month for exclusive features, including the coveted blue checkmark.
Grok is positioned as a rival to ChatGPT, the AI chatbot released by OpenAI last November. Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, stepped down as chairman five years ago due to disagreements about the company’s direction.
In a recent conversation with Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Musk discussed his vision of an AI future where “no job is needed.” xAI, in a blogpost, highlighted that Grok-1’s capabilities surpass the publicly available ChatGPT on several measures, including solving high school math problems.
Elon Musk has voiced concerns about the rapid development of AI and its potential negative impact on society. xAI anticipates Grok’s rapid improvement as users provide more information.
As a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” Musk reassures users that under his leadership, X will be hesitant to delete content and permanently ban users. This approach has stirred attention, especially when British far-right figure Tommy Robinson, previously banned, thanked Musk for reinstating his account after five years.