X pilots AI platform inspired by ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’
The social media network formerly known as Twitter is turning to a classic series of science fiction novels as a basis for its new artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
In a corporate blog post, X.ai., the artificial intelligence division of X, announced the beta release of Grok, a next-generation AI platform said to be modeled after the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” science fiction books, intended to answer almost anything and also suggest what questions to ask.
Twitter, which was acquired for $44 billion by multibillionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk in October 2022, officially rebranded to X in July 2023 in a step toward what Musk has said is a gradual transformation to an “everything app.”
While Musk has still not publicly specified what exactly an “everything app” would do, media outlets have speculated he wants to turn Twitter into a “super app” such as the Chinese WeChat app, which provides functionality including mobile payment, messaging and social media from a single platform.
Grok – a closer look
One significant capability of Grok (the name may come from a term invented by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein meaning “to understand thoroughly and intuitively) is that it has access to the real-time data generated by X. This could potentially set it apart from generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, which utilize a set of information that is not completely up-to-date.
In addition, X.ai said that Grok is “designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak,” and will also “answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.” According to X.ai, it built the prototype of Grok with two months of training but expects significant weekly improvement in its performance with the assistance of beta users.
X.ai also said that it intends to “design AI tools that are useful to people of all backgrounds and political views” and help them “quickly access relevant information, process data, and come up with new ideas.”
A limited number of users in the U.S. will be able to try out the Grok prototype and provide feedback the company says it will use to help improve its capabilities before a wider release. The waitlist is available here. New capabilities and features are expected to be rolled out in the coming months.
“We believe that AI holds immense potential for contributing significant scientific and economic value to society, so we will work towards developing reliable safeguards against catastrophic forms of malicious use,” X.ai said in the blog post. “We believe in doing our utmost to ensure that AI remains a force for good.
X follows a popular proprietary AI trail
X is the latest major technology and/or retail company to launch a proprietary next-generation AI model. Other examples include Amazon, Google, Walmart, and Chinese e-commerce retailer JD (based on the ChatGPT platform).
President Joe Biden recently issued a wide-ranging executive order establishing standards for AI safety and security. The order follows a set of voluntary commitments Biden released in July 2023, which tech firms including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection have agreed to follow.