Elon Musk criticizes OpenAI security, says XAI’s Grok is more secure than ChatGPT
Amid the ongoing legal battle with OpenAI, XAI CEO Elon Musk alleged in a statement that ChatGPT is unsafe, linking the chatbot to user suicides, while claiming that his own AI system, Grok, has not been involved in any such cases.
There has been a long-running dispute between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, two of OpenAI’s co-founders, over whether the company has abandoned its original non-profit mission of benefiting humanity in favor of maximizing profits. While the two sides have traded blows, Musk made serious allegations against his former partners in a recently released legal statement. They claimed that their AI chatbot ChatGPT is linked to the deaths of some users, while their own AI system, Grok, has a clean track record.
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“No one has committed suicide because of Grok, but apparently they have committed suicide because of ChatGPT,” Musk alleged, referring to other lawsuits OpenAI is currently facing. Here, the plaintiffs claim that ChatGPT’s manipulative or emotionally intense conversations caused severe mental health distress, with some cases allegedly resulting in suicide.
As Tech Crunch reports, Musk made the comments during his video testimony, which was recorded in September and publicly filed this week ahead of a jury trial expected next month. The statement is part of Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI, where he is calling his AI company, XAI, more security-focused than OpenAI.
What is the Musk vs OpenAI lawsuit about?
At the center of this legal battle is OpenAI’s transformation from a non-profit research laboratory to a for-profit company. Musk, who was one of the co-founders of OpenAI, claims the change violates the company’s original mission and agreements. According to him, OpenAI was created to ensure that AI will be developed safely and will not be controlled by any one powerful company.
In the statement, Musk argued that commercial pressures, revenue, scale, partnerships, can push companies to move faster than safety allows. He has repeatedly said that AI development should prioritize caution over speed.
Musk’s criticism of OpenAI is also linked to a public letter he signed in March 2023. The letter, supported by more than 1,100 signatories, including AI experts, calls for a moratorium on developing systems more powerful than GPT-4. It warned that AI labs are in an “out of control race” to create increasingly powerful systems without fully understanding the risks.
Asked why he signed it, Musk said it “seemed like a good idea” and said he simply wanted AI safety to be prioritized.
Grok also under investigation
While Musk has been heavily critical of OpenAI and its chatbot ChatGPT, his own AI system, Grok, has not been free from controversy. Last month, grok-generated non-consensual nude photos circulated widely on Instagram, some reportedly involving minors.
The incident led to an investigation by the California Attorney General’s Office and regulatory scrutiny in the European Union, with some governments even imposing blocks or bans.
As for Musk’s criticism of OpenAI, the rivalry is nothing new. During the statement, he reflected on the company’s origins, saying that he helped start OpenAI because he feared that Google might dominate AI development. He described his conversation with Google co-founder Larry Page as “dangerous”, claiming Page does not take AI security seriously. According to Musk, OpenAI was intended to counter that risk.
However, Musk left OpenAI’s board in February 2018, saying there was a conflict of interest with Tesla’s AI work. Musk’s decision was also linked to disagreements over the company’s direction and reports that he sought greater control over the organization.