Elon Musk based xAI, SpaceX’s latest division, in July 2023 as a counterbalance to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which Musk helped cofound and fund earlier than leaving in 2018.
ChatGPT, Musk claimed, had a liberal bias. Beyond that, Musk proclaimed a grand ambition for his firm: to make a “maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.” Musk’s cofounders got here from the highest AI labs and tech corporations, together with Google’s DeepMind, OpenAI, Microsoft and Tesla.
Grok, xAi’s chatbot, was unveiled in November 2023 and by December was formally built-in with X, previously Twitter. Musk has known as Grok essentially the most truthful and subsequently “safe” AI. But Grok can also be way more risque than the opposite chatbots, with “spicy” and “conspiracy” modes and AI companion bots which might be recognized to shortly delve into intimate conversations.
While Grok has usually scored effectively on AI mannequin benchmarks, it’s nonetheless not thought-about aggressive with Anthropic and OpenAI’s fashions. It is, nevertheless, the one mannequin with entry to real-time X knowledge, making it the strongest possibility for dwell social media intelligence and pattern monitoring.
xAI has additionally closely invested in AI infrastructure, together with Colossus, presently the world’s largest synthetic intelligence supercomputer, situated in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 2025, xAI acquired X in an all-stock deal. In early 2026, SpaceX acquired xAI and folded it into the house large’s AI division.