Is an Elon Musk-owned ChatGPT rival coming?

Elon Musk is reportedly launching an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that will directly compete with OpenAI, the maker of the popular language model, ChatGPT.

According to the Financial Times, the billionaire is putting together a team of AI researchers and engineers for the new firm and has also been in talks with investors in Tesla and SpaceX about investing in the project.

During a Fox News interview, Musk disclosed that he has been contemplating the name “TruthGPT” for the venture, which seeks to develop a “maximum truth-seeking AI” that attempts to comprehend the nature of the universe and “hopefully does more good than harm.”

Musk has reportedly secured thousands of graphics processing units from Nvidia, which power the computing required for intensive tasks like AI and high-end graphics. Last month, he registered X.AI Corp, listing himself as the sole director and his family office's managing director as secretary, but it's unclear if it's related to his AI startup efforts.

Musk's plans come just weeks after he and other executives called for a six-month pause on developing systems more powerful than OpenAI's GPT-4, citing potential risks to society.

While companies like Microsoft and Alphabet are incorporating Generative AI into their offerings, regulators are calling for clear guidelines for mass adoption. Italy has banned ChatGPT due to privacy issues, while European privacy watchdogs have created a task force towards developing a common policy for AI.