Elon Musk is venturing into the realm of AI competition with OpenAI and Google’s ambitious AI projects by establishing xAI. Musk aims to equip xAI with its own supercomputer to power the next-generation Grok AI chatbot. According to reports from The Information, Musk has shared these plans with investors in closed-door meetings.
The proposed supercomputer is targeted to be operational by the fall of 2025, leveraging the expertise of Oracle for its construction. Musk’s objective is to challenge major AI players like OpenAI and enhance the computing capabilities Meta is developing for its AI endeavours. A robust AI infrastructure will facilitate xAI in advancing and refining its Grok AI chatbot, requiring the processing power of Nvidia’s latest graphic chips.
The report indicates that xAI’s supercomputer, once established, will surpass the industry’s current largest GPU cluster by at least four times. Supercomputers play a crucial role in the expanding AI landscape, requiring powerful systems for efficient data processing on the cloud or devices.
While Grok AI has been available to X Premium users, Musk’s endeavour to build a supercomputer signals his ambition to expand the AI chatbot’s user base, potentially leading to revenue generation. Musk is actively seeking billions in funding to sustain xAI, and investors would expect to see a broader user base to support the platform’s growth.
In other developments related to Musk’s ventures, the familiar feature of public likes on social media platform X might soon disappear. Musk has decided to conceal this feature from user profiles, along with removing the Likes tab. This decision is driven by the recognition that public likes may encourage undesirable behaviour, such as hesitance to engage with potentially controversial content due to fear of backlash or concern for one’s public image, as explained by an X engineer earlier this month.