Tag Archives: Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s AI Image Chatbot Runs Amok

X,

The latest edition of Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok debuted a new image generation tool on Wednesday that lacked most of the safety guardrails that have become standard within the artificial intelligence industry, The Guardian reported.

Grok’s new feature, which is currently limited to paid subscribers of X, led to a flood of bizarre, offensive AI-generated images of political figures and celebrities on the social network formerly known as Twitter.

The Image generator can produce a variety of images that similar AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT have blocked for violating rules on misinformation and abuse. 

In prompts and images reviewed by The Guardian, Grok’s output included representations of Donald Trump flying a plane into the World Trade Center buildings and the prophet Muhammad holding a bomb, as well as depictions of Taylor Swift, Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in lingerie — all women who are already frequent targets for online harassment.

ChatGPT, by contrast, rejects such prompts that involve copyrighted characters, as most other AI visualizers including ChatGPT do. Grok produced images of Mickey Mouse saluting Adolf Hitler and Donald Duck using heroin, for example. Disney did not return a request for comment.

TechCrunch reported Elon Musk’s Grok released a new AI image generation feature on Tuesday night that, just like the AI chatbot, has very few safeguards.

The social media site is already flooded with outrageous images from the new feature. That certainly raises concerns heading into an election cycle, but strictly speaking it’s not really Elon Musk’s AI company powering the madness. Musk seems to have found a company that sympathizes with his vision for Grok as an “anti-woke chatbot” without the strict guardrails found in OpenAI’s Dall-E or Google’s Imagen. 

On Tuesday, xAI announced a collaboration with Black Forest Labs, an AI image and video startup launched on August 1, to power Grok’s image generator using its FLUX.1 model.

The Verge reported xAI’s chatbot now lets you create images from text prompts and publish them to X — and so far, the rollout seems as chaotic as everything else on Elon Musk’s social network.

Subscribers to X Premium, which grants access to Grok, have been posting everything from Barack Obama doing cocaine to Donald Trump with a pregnant women who (vaguely) resembles Kamala Harris, to Trump and Harris pointing guns. With US elections approaching and X already under scrutiny from regulators in Europe, it’s a recipe for a new fight over the risks of generative AI.

According to The Verge, OpenAI, by contrast, will refuse prompts for real people. Nazi symbols, “harmful stereotypes of misinformation” and other potentially controversial subjects on top of predictable no-go zones like porn. 

Unlike Grok, it also adds an identifying watermark to images it does make. Users have coaxed major chatbots into producing images similar to the ones described above, but it often requires slang or other linguistic workarounds, and the loopholes are typically closed when people point them out.

In my opinion, allowing Grok AI to run wild with user prompts could become a problem. For example, Disney could potentially choose to file a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s Grok for using Disney’s characters without permission. 

How Elon Musk Is Diverting Talent, Data, And GPUs From His Other Businesses

X,

Elon Musk has big plans for his startup xAI. A key part: using other companies, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

The billionaire’s year-old artificial-intelligence bet is relying on talent, data, and hardware from his other businesses to help it develop what he has said will become the most powerful AI in the world by December.

So far, xAI has hired at least 11 employees who worked at Tesla, according to xAI’s website and LinkedIn profiles. That includes six who have worked directly on the Autopilot team focused on AI-powered self-driving technology that Musk has said is pivotal for Tesla’s future.

The startup has leased computer chips critical for AI — called graphic processing units, or GPUs — from his social media platform X, according to people familiar with the matter, and it boasts access to real-time X data.

Musk also has asked for GPUs that were reserved for Tesla to be redirected to xAI and X. He has talked publicly about the troves of visual data that Tesla collects, which he has said could serve as a resource to train xAI’s models, and said last fall that X shareholders will own 24% of xAI.

CNBC reported Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is asking the Tesla board if it’s looked into CEO Elon Musk’s use of company resources to benefit his other ventures, including SpaceX and xAI.

“Tesla’s Board of Directors appears to be failing to meet its fiduciary duties to Tesla’s shareholders by neglecting to address company CEO Elon Musk’s apparent conflicts of interest,” Warren wrote in a 10-page letter to Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm on Thursday. Musk also operates Neuralink and The Boring Co.

Warren sits on both the Senate’s Banking and Armed Services committees, and has expressed similar concerns in the past, including requests to the SEC to investigate Musk and Tesla. She also sent correspondence to Denholm in late 2022 after Musk sold billions of dollars worth of his Tesla shares in part to finance a leveraged buyout of Twitter, which he later rebranded X.

CleanTechnica reported the social media platform X seems to be in real trouble. Since billionaire Elon Musk acquired the site for $44 billion in 2022, it appears that X revenue stream have plummeted. 

The bottom line has gotten so band that Musk has sued a global advertising alliance and several major companies, including Unilever, Mars, and CVS Health. He’s accusing them of unlawfully conspiring to shun his social network and to intentionally drive X revenue loss through a “massive advertiser boycott.”

In my opinion, Elon Musk appears to be having difficulties with X (formally Twitter). It is unclear to me why he would move data – perhaps provided by X users — to xAI.  

Former Twitter Board Member Sues Elon Musk’s X For $20 Million In Pay

Elon Musk, ,

A former Twitter board member, Omid Kordestani, sued the social media company owned by Elon Musk on Friday, claiming that the billionaire refused to cash out more than $20 million worth of shares, The New York Times reported.

Mr. Kordestani, who joined Twitter’s board in 2015 and helped oversee the sale of the company to Mr. Musk in 2022, received most of his compensation in stock. But after Mr. Musk bought the company, now called X, he refused to pay Mr. Kordestani for those shares, the lawsuit said.

X “seeks to reap the benefits of Mr. Kordestani’s seven years of service to Twitter without paying him for it,” said the suit, which was filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco.

A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Such a public battle between a former board member and the company he once helped manage is rare — most boardroom disputes are settled quietly behind the scenes. But Mr. Musk’s tumultuous acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion upended many notions of normal business practices, and the billionaire has faced a slew of lawsuits over his handling of the deal.

With his lawsuit, Mr. Kordestani becomes the most senior Twitter leader to take legal action against Mr. Musk — but certainly not the first. Twitter’s former chief executive, chief financial officer, and top lawyers have also sued the company to recoup compensation, and thousands of employees have joined mass arbitration cases that accuse Mr. Musk of wrongfully terminating them and refusing to pay proper severance.

Omid Kordestani, a former board member of Twitter, (now rebranded as X), has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s social media company alleging that they failed to cash out over $20 million worth of his shares, Benzinga reported.

The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco on Friday, accuses X of benefiting from Kordestani’s seven years of service to Twitter without compensating him.

The Iranian-American businessman, who joined Twitter’s board in 2015, played a significant role in the sale of the company to Musk in 2022.  He received most of his compensation in stock.

However, after Musk’s acquisition, he allegedly refused to pay Kordestani for those shares, the report noted. 

According to the lawsuit, Musk’s purchase agreement stipulated that Kordestani’s 800,000 stock options, worth over $20 million, should have been paid out within five days of the deal’s closure. However, that payment was allegedly not made.

In my opinion, Mr Musk should have done the right thing and paid out the stock options that Mr. Kordestani had earned. I cannot imagine why Mr. Musk decided to just … not fulfill his obligation to pay Mr. Kordestani what he as owed.

Elon Musk Shares Manipulated Harris Video, Violating X’s Policies

Elon Musk, ,

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has waded into one of the thorniest issues facing U.S. politics: deepfake videos, The New York Times reported. 

On Friday night, Mr. Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X, reposted an edited campaign video for Vice President Kamala Harris that appears to have been digitally manipulated to change the spot’s voice-over in a deceptive manner.

The video mimics Ms. Harris’s voice, but instead of using her words from the original ad, it has the vice president saying that President Biden is senile, that she does not “know the first thing about running the country” and that, as a woman and a person color, she is the “ultimate diversity hire.”

In addition, the clip was edited to remove images of former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, to add images of Mr. Biden. The original unaltered ad, which the Harris campaign released on Thursday is titled “We Choose Freedom.”

The version posted on X does not contain a disclaimer, though the account that first uploaded it Friday morning, @MrReganUSA, noted in its post that the video was a “parody.” When Mr. Musk reposted the video on his own account eight hours later, he made no such disclosure, stating only,  “This is amazing” followed by a laughing emoji. 

Engadget reported: As spotted by The New York Times, Elon Musk shared an altered version of Kamala Harris’ campaign video on Friday night that uses a deepfake VoiceOver to say things like, “I was select because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” in he VP’s voice. 

Nowhere does the post clear users to the fact that the video has been manipulated and features comments Harris did not actually say. Under X’s own policies, users “may not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may decide or confuse people and lead to harm (‘misleading media’).”

Altered media is in some cases allowed to stay up on the site and won’t be labeled as misleading, according to X’s policies. That includes memes and satire, “provided these do not cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media.” The potential for deepfakes to be used to influence voters’ opinions ahead of the election has been a growing concern in recent years. 

Rolling Stone reported billionaire Elon Musk shared a deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris manipulated to make it sound as though she spoke about President Joe Biden’s “senility” and that she does not “know the first thing about running the country.”

X’s policies explicitly prohibit “synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.” As of Sunday morning, X had not appended a Community Note to the post. Community Notes are used by the platform to correct misinformation or misleading posts. At the time of this publication, the video had garnered nearly 188 million views.

In my opinion, Elon Musk should not be allowing deep fakes on his platform – especially when the target of the deepfake is someone who is currently running for president. I cannot understand why he thinks this obviously manipulated video should stay up. 

Elon Musk Requires ‘FSD’ Demo For Every Prospective Tesla Buyer In North America

Elon Musk,

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now requiring employees to install and show customers how to use the latest version of the company’s premium driver assistance system, which is marketed as “FSD” or Full Self-Driving, before completing a vehicle delivery in North America, CNBC reported.

“Going forward, it is mandatory in North America to install and activate FSD V12.3.1 and take customers on a short test ride before handing over the car,” Musk wrote in an email to staffers on Monday. “Almost no one actually realizes how well (supervised) FSD actually works. I know this will slow down the delivery process, but it is nonetheless a hard requirement.”

Bloomberg first reported on Musk’s email, which was also viewed by CNBC.

While all new Tesla vehicles have a standard driver assistance system installed called Autopilot, the company’s FSD option costs $199 per month for most customers in North America.

Tesla’s FSD system does not turn cars into autonomous vehicles. According to Tesla owners’ manuals, drivers must remain attentive to the road and ready to steer or brake at any time when using FSD or FSD Beta.

TechCrunch reported Tesla is about to start giving every customer in the U.S. a one-month trial of its $12,000 driver-assistance system, which it calls Full Self-Driving Beta, provided they have a car with the compatible hardware. The company is also reportedly mandating, at CEO Elon Musk’s request, that prospective buyers are given a demo of the software before they purchase a new Tesla.

The full-court press to promote FSD Beta software, an upgraded version of the Autopilot system that comes standard in all Tesla vehicles, is happening at an interesting moment for the company. It’s the end of the first quarter of 2024, and Tesla usually pulls out all the stops — including having executives help deliver cars to customers — to meet or beat its sales goals.

According to TechCrunch, tempting customers with a new incentive could be one way to boost sales, although it could backfire if prospective customers are turned off by Tesla adding extra steps to its usually streamlined buying process.

To enjoy Tesla’s FSD technology, you’d have to pay $12,000 to unlock it on top of what you paid for the car itself. It comes with all of the company’s Autopilot features, as well as the ability to use auto steer on city streets and to activate your vehicle’s capability to identify stop signs and traffic lights so it can automatically slow your vehicle to a stop on approach, Engadget reported

Still, $12,000 is a big chunk of money. If you’re on the fence about shelling out that much, Tesla might be hoping that the demonstration could give you the push you need to make you say yes.

In my opinion, I think it is likely that people who really want to buy a Tesla will attempt to come to come up with the money for the FSD beta software. That said, having to pay $12,000 on top of the Tesla itself, could be difficult for those unable to throw around that amount of money.

Musk’s X Corp Loses Lawsuit Against Hate Speech Watchdog

Legal, ,

A U.S. judge on Monday threw out Elon Musk’s lawsuit against a nonprofit group that faulted him for allowing a rise in hate speech on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Reuters reported.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said it was “evident” that Musk’s X Corp sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) because he didn’t like its criticism, and thought its research would hurt X’s image and scare away advertisers.

“X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp — and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism, Breyer wrote.

“It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp is far more concerned about CCDH’s speech than it is its data collection methods,” he added.

X, in a statement, said it plans to appeal.

According to Reuters, the decision is a blow to Musk, the world’s third-richest person, who has for many years styled himself as a free-speech champion.

But since paying $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022, he has faced wide criticism for firing too many people who policed misinformation, and from civil rights groups for allowing more harmful and abusive posts.

Engadget reported a judge has dismissed a lawsuit from X against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that researches hate speech on the Elon Musk-owned platform. In the decision, the judge said that the lawsuit was an attempt to “punish” the organization for criticizing the company.

X sued the CCDH last summer, accusing the group of “scraping” its platform as part of a “scare campaign” to hurt its advertising business. The group had published research claiming X was failing to act on reports of hate speech, and was in some cases boosting such content.

In a ruling, federal judge Charles Breyer said that “this case is about punishing” CCDH for publishing unflattering research. “It is clear to the Court that if X Corp was indeed motived to spend money in response to CCDH’s scraping in 2023, it was not because of the harm such scraping posed to the X platform, but because of the harm it posed to X Corp’s image,” Breyer wrote. “X Corp’s motivation in bringing this case is evident. X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp – and perhaps in order to dissuade others.”

The Verge reported the CCDH is an organization aimed at identifying and pushing back against hate speech online. Last year, the CCDH found that X didn’t address hateful content posted by 99 percent of premium users and that the platform failed to take swift action against over 200 blatantly racist and antisemitic posts.

In my opinion, the judge made the correct ruling regarding X Corp. and its failure to remove racist and antisemitic posts. Perhaps Mr. Musk wouldn’t be in this situation if he had not fired so many Twitter workers.

Elon Musk Says xAI Will Open Source Grok This Week

X, ,

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI will open source Grok, its chatbot rivaling ChatGPT, this week, the entrepreneur said, days after suing OpenAI and complaining that the Microsoft-backed startup had deviated from its open source roots, TechCrunch reported.

xAI released Grok last year, arming it with features including access to “real-time” information and views undeterred by “politically correct” norms. The service is available to customers paying for X’s $16 monthly subscription.

Musk, who didn’t elaborate on what aspects of Grok he planned to open source, helped co-found OpenAI with Sam Altman nearly a decade ago as a counterweight to Google’s dominance in artificial intelligence. But OpenAI, which was required to make it’s technology “freely available” to the public, has become closed-source and shifted focus to maximizing profits for Microsoft, Musk alleged in the lawsuit filed last month.

According to Elon Musk, xAI will open source its Grok chatbot, Engadget reported. The founder of the company, whose AI assistant is available to Premium+ subscribers on X, hasn’t revealed any other details about the decision, which is slated to take effect this week.

It’s hardly the first time a Musk company has opened up access to its knowhow. Tesla open sourced its patents a decade a go, and now practically ever major car manufacturer has adopted its electric vehicle charging connector. X, meanwhile, published the code that powers its “For You” algorithmic feed last year, though we didn’t learn much from it.

Engadget also reported that The Wall Street Journal points out, Musk may be hoping that, by letting third-party developers and researchers dig into Grok’s code, there could be an increased uptake of the model. The developer community may also provide feedback that could be used to improve Grok.

After suing OpenAI this month, alleging the company has become too closed, Elon Musk will release his “truth-seeking” answer to ChatGPT, the chatbot Grok, for anyone to download and use,WIRED reported.

“This week @xAI will open source Grok,” Musk wrote on his social media platform, X today. That suggests his AI company, xAI will release the full code of Grok and allow anyone to use or alter it. By contrast, OpenAI makes a version of ChatGPT and the language model behind it is available to use for free but keeps its code private.

Musk has previously said little about the business model for Grok or xAI, and the chatbot was made available only to Premium subscribers to X. Having accused his OpenAI cofounders of reneging on a promise to give away the company’s artificial intelligence earlier this month, Musk may have felt he had to open source his own chatbot to show that he is committed to that vision.

It seems to me that Elon Musk is very interested in allowing Grok to become an open source application. Previously, Grok was available only to those who were paying a subscription fee on X. I cannot help but wonder if Mr. Musk was always intending to allow more people to use Grok, and whether or not that would come with a fee.