Elon Musk's xAI to open-source Grok, chatbot rival to ChatGPT

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is set to open-source its chatbot, Grok, this week.

This move comes shortly after Musk's criticism of OpenAI's departure from its open-source principles, leading to his recent lawsuit against the Microsoft-backed firm. Grok, introduced by xAI last year, boasts real-time information access and is available to subscribers of xAI's $16 monthly plan.

Musk's involvement in founding OpenAI was initially aimed at providing a counterbalance to Google's dominance. However, Musk alleges that OpenAI has shifted towards a closed-source model, prioritizing profit for Microsoft. This lawsuit has sparked debates among technologists and investors about the importance of open-source AI.

With the open-sourcing of Grok, xAI joins a growing list of companies, including Meta and Mistral, that have made their chatbot technology publicly available.