Elon Musk’s xAI Adopts Benefit Corporation Model, Following OpenAI’s Lead

Billionaire Elon Musk-owned artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has adopted a for-profit benefit corporate structure in Nevada, joining the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. This approach puts the company in a unique position to do some societal good, and dilutes its accountability towards its shareholders, The Information reported, citing a late November filing with Nevada.

According to the filing, xAI seeks to create a “material  positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole.”

xAI is Musk’s Attempt To Understand the Universe

When Elon Musk first announced the launch of xAI in March this year, he said he wanted to “understand the true nature of the universe.” On its website, xAI says something similar. The company has also been collaborating with X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and electric carmaker Tesla.

A benefit corporate structure appears to have become a lucrative niche, particularly for companies at the vanguard of generative AI. Take AI startup Anthropic for example. The Google-backed company is organized as a benefit corporation in Delaware, while OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — also has a for-profit arm.

Comparing Missions of xAI and Anthropic In AI Landscape

However, the vision of these companies is contrasting. According to its website, Musk’s xAI aims to build AI to accelerate human scientific discovery. On the other hand, Anthropic claims to build “reliable, interpretable, and steerable” AI systems, while researching the opportunities and risks associated with AI.

Musk has often talked about the risks posed by advanced AI systems. The tech entrepreneur was one of the founding chairs of OpenAI and was among the investors who backed OpenAI. But he has since parted ways with the company, reportedly due to concerns over OpenAI’s approach to AI safety.

Last year, Musk, along with top AI researchers signed an open letter that demanded AI companies immediately pause training AI systems more powerful than GPT-4, for at least 6 months.

Musk’s Grok AI Enters the Indian Market

But here’s the irony. Musk’s xAI has launched its own large language generative AI model, dubbed Grok AI, which the billionaire claims is more “truth curious” than other language models. Grok AI has now been rolled out in India but comes with a subscription of Rs 2,299 per month for smartphone users, and Rs 1,300 a month for desktop users.