AI developer, xAI, which is under the guidance of Elon Musk, disclosed the source code of their Large Language Model (LLM), Grok-1, a vital development towards promoting AI transparency and accessibility.
Release of Grok-1 Code
Last Monday, Elon Musk promised to release the source code for Grok, his AI chatbot renowned for its sarcastic and easy-going nature. By Sunday, this promise was achieved. According to xAI’s official website, “We are delighted to reveal the base weights and Grok-1 architecture, our cutting-edge language model”. Grok-1, developed by xAI, is a model featuring a “Mixture-of-Experts” method and an architecture with 314 billion parameters.
Grok-1 Model
The published Grok-1 model is a non-adapted base dataset from its pre-training phase, which concluded in October 2023. This means the model wasn’t further optimized for specific tasks, like dialogues. xAI has made the model accessible under the Apache 2.0 license, demonstrating its commitment to promoting open AI research.
Social Media Interaction
Grok’s account on the social platform X humorously reacted to Musk’s announcement about making the Grok code publicly accessible by making a joke about revealing its “weights”, which sparked a friendly interaction with the ChatGPT account. In response, Musk questioned how much OpenAI corresponds with its “open AI” moniker, underlining the AI transparency issue.
xAI and Investment Discussions
Earlier this year in January, Musk dismissed rumors that xAI is looking for investment, clarifying he had no talks regarding this matter. Having established xAI as a competitive entity against OpenAI and other similar companies in July last year, Musk launched Grok, the AI chatbot in November, seeking to redefine the AI industry’s current scenario.
Criticisms and Legal Disputes
Musk’s decision to release the Grok code follows his criticisms of OpenAI – a startup he once participated in. He sued OpenAI and its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, accusing them of deviating from the startup’s initial purposes, shifting towards commercialization, and lacking transparency, notably after OpenAI attracted $1 billion worth of investment from Microsoft in 2019 and an additional $10 billion in 2023. In response, OpenAI asserted that Musk backed its commercial pathway as early as 2015.
Future Implications
xAI’s move to open-source its AI chatbot Grok heralds a new phase in AI’s landscape, emphasizing the importance of openness and accessibility of cutting-edge technologies for mankind. Not only does this aid research activities, it also raises concerns about future commercialization and ethics in the AI industry, placing xAI and Musk at the heart of discussions surrounding the future of this technology.
