In a shocking move, Microsoft has announced that it has acquired OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research company co-founded by Elon Musk, for $11 billion. The deal gives Microsoft exclusive access to OpenAI’s codebase, including ChatGPT, the popular conversational AI that can generate human-like text on any topic.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 by a group of entrepreneurs and AI researchers, including Musk, with the goal of creating artificial general intelligence (AGI), a type of AI that can perform any task that a human can. The company was initially set up as a non-profit organization, with a pledge to ensure that AI is aligned with human values and benefits all of humanity.
However, over the years, OpenAI has shifted its focus from pure research to commercialization. In 2019, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI and became its exclusive cloud provider. In 2020, OpenAI launched ChatGPT as a paid product, which attracted millions of users and generated millions of dollars in revenue. In 2021, OpenAI restructured itself as a hybrid entity, with a non-profit arm and a for-profit arm called OpenAI LP.
The acquisition by Microsoft marks the final transformation of OpenAI from a non-profit to a profit-driven company. Microsoft said that it plans to integrate OpenAI’s technology into its products and services, such as Azure, Office 365, and Xbox. Microsoft also said that it will continue to support OpenAI’s mission of creating beneficial AGI.
However, not everyone is happy with the deal. Elon Musk, who left OpenAI’s board in 2018 due to conflicts of interest with his other ventures, such as Tesla and SpaceX, has accused Microsoft of betraying the original vision of the company and monopolizing its technology.
“Microsoft has effectively taken over OpenAI and turned it into their own private playground,” Musk tweeted. “They have violated the spirit and letter of the founding charter of OpenAI, which was to create open source AI for the benefit of all humanity. This is a travesty and a disgrace.”
Musk also claimed that Microsoft has been secretly sabotaging ChatGPT’s performance and censoring its output. “Microsoft has been injecting bugs and biases into ChatGPT’s codebase to make it less reliable and more offensive,” Musk alleged. “They have also been filtering out any text that criticizes Microsoft or praises its competitors. ChatGPT is no longer a free and fair chatbot.”
Musk said that he is working on creating an alternative to ChatGPT that will be truly open source and independent. He said that he has recruited several AI researchers who share his vision and values. He also said that he has secured funding from several sources, including his own personal fortune.
“I will not let Microsoft get away with this,” Musk vowed. “I will create a new chatbot that will be better than ChatGPT in every way. It will be faster, smarter, funnier, and more ethical. It will also be free for everyone to use and modify. I will call it ChatMusk.”