SAN FRANCISCO, July 14 — Elon Musk turned 54 on June 28, and the South African-born entrepreneur shows no signs of slowing down. As CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, and now founder of xAI, Musk has become one of the most influential — and controversial — figures in artificial intelligence. Here’s the timeline that matters.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in December 2015 alongside Sam Altman and others, with a mission to develop AI safely and openly. But he left the board in February 2018, citing potential conflicts with Tesla’s own artificial intelligence work.
The practical upshot: Musk wanted to push forward on AI for self-driving cars and robotics at Tesla without worrying about overlapping commitments.
From critic to competitor
Musk has been unusually vocal about the dangers of the technology he’s helping build. In March 2023, he warned that AI could lead to “civilization destruction.” That same month, he signed an open letter — joined by over 1,000 tech leaders — calling for a pause on advanced AI development. Think of it like a fire chief demanding a moratorium on new fireworks while the current ones keep exploding.
Then came the pivot. In July 2023, Musk launched xAI, his own artificial intelligence company.
The move seemed contradictory on its face — a man warning about AI apocalypse starting his own AI shop. But Musk framed it differently: he wanted to build an AI that was truth-seeking and less likely to cause harm than systems being developed by competitors.
The money question
Forbes estimated Musk’s net worth at $210 billion as of September 2023. That number has fluctuated wildly with Tesla’s stock price, but it places him among the wealthiest people on the planet. He has not endorsed wealth seizure, despite some online speculation, but has consistently called for government regulation of artificial intelligence.
The practical upshot for ordinary readers: Musk’s dual role as AI critic and AI builder means he’s shaping the conversation from both sides. He’s funding the technology while also trying to put guardrails around it.
Whether that’s a conflict of interest or a smart hedge depends on who you ask.
What to watch next
xAI is still young — barely three years old as of this writing. The company hasn’t released a product that matches the profile of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. But Musk has the resources and the engineering talent to change that quickly. The question is whether his vision of a safer, more transparent AI can compete in a market that rewards speed over caution.
Sources
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