The recent admission of Elon Musk on how training data for AI is becoming increasingly limited has proved to be quite a dampener to advancements in the field of artificial intelligence. Musk said on X late Wednesday with Stagwell during a livestreamed conversation. “We’ve now exhausted basically the cumulative sum of human knowledge … in AI training” AI’s rapidly growing demand at the moment also calls for improving or innovating how AI is developed, ensuring its future sustainable productivity even with less and less high-quality training data. This reduced availability of quality training data could affect the current and future performance of AI engines that heavily depend on such data to operate effectively, potentially hindering their growth and potential.
Musk vs. OpenAI and the Future of AI
Musk’s comments are also coming as there is an increasing amount of conflict between him and Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI. This organization created the revolutionary AI tool, ChatGPT. Musk, an early investor in OpenAI, has been critical of the organization’s shift in direction. A lawsuit is ongoing, with Musk alleging that OpenAI has abandoned its original mission as a nonprofit lab focused on the public’s well-being in favour of profit-driven objectives. The ongoing lawsuit has raised questions regarding who controls the use and future of AI development.
2017 Power Struggle, Musk’s Attempt to Lead OpenAI
The root of this feud centres on the power struggle of 2017, when Musk sought to place himself at the helm of OpenAI. After his attempt was rebuffed, he became aggrieved and eventually left the organization, founding his own AI company, xAI, to compete with his former partner turned rival.
Musk Challenges OpenAI and Microsoft’s Monopoly
OpenAI has since entered into a powerful partnership with Microsoft, leveraging supercomputing to develop AI. Musk’s lawsuit also accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of benefiting from his early contributions to the organization while reaping the financial rewards. He argues that the combined forces of OpenAI and Microsoft are creating a monopoly that is being used unfairly against his own AI ventures.
