Elon Musk’s xAI has introduced a new chatbot named Grok to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
According to a report by The Information, engineers from Tesla are leaving to join Elon Musk’s AI startup. Three engineers have departed from the electric car company to join xAI, signaling Musk’s efforts to exert greater influence over Tesla’s AI strategy.
The move by Elon Musk’s xAI to recruit engineers from Tesla is evident as three former Tesla engineers have transitioned to the AI startup since its official launch last summer, as reported by The Information on Wednesday.
One notable transition is that of Ethan Knight, a machine-learning scientist who previously worked at Tesla, who recently joined xAI, as indicated on the AI company’s website.
An insider revealed to The Information that Knight was leading the team focused on computer vision for Tesla’s self-driving technology before his move.
In response to inquiries from Business Insider, Musk did not immediately provide comments outside regular working hours. However, following The Information’s publication, Musk claimed on X that Knight had initially considered joining OpenAI but ultimately opted for xAI.
Musk criticized OpenAI for aggressively recruiting Tesla engineers by offering substantial compensation packages. He mentioned that he had been increasing salaries for members of Tesla’s AI engineering team in reaction to this competition.
While major tech companies are engaged in fierce competition for a limited pool of top AI talent, Musk has been actively pursuing greater control over Tesla’s AI strategy.
In a post on X in January, Musk expressed discomfort with the idea of expanding the EV company’s AI and robotics capabilities without owning a significant portion of the voting shares.
He emphasized that having a quarter of the voting power would grant him influence, although major decisions could still be challenged by other voters.
Musk indicated that if he lacked sufficient control, he would prefer to develop products external to Tesla.
These candid remarks were interpreted as an ultimatum and caused unease among some investors. Dan Ives from Wedbush Securities characterized Musk’s statements as inciting a “firestorm,” while longtime Tesla supporter Ross Gerber deemed Musk’s stance as peculiar and akin to “blackmail” directed at Tesla’s investors.
