Elon Musk's startup xAI released its Grok large language model as 'open source' over the weekend in a move aimed at setting it apart from rival OpenAI.
Grok, the chatbot that boasts 314 billion parameters, can now be freely accessed for modification and distribution under the Apache (NASDAQ:APA) 2.0 licence, fulfilling Musk's commitment to open-source the model to expedite AI advancement.
The announcement on xAI's blog detailed that the base model weights and network architecture of Grok-1 were available for public access.
Previously exclusive to Musk’s social network X as a part of the X Premium+ subscription, Grok’s open-source availability now enables global developers, companies and enthusiasts to utilise the model’s extensive capabilities.
Despite the release including the model's weights and accompanying documentation, it excludes the original training data and real-time data streams, which were part of the proprietary version's edge.
Grok, named after a term from Douglas Adams’ 'Hitchhiker’s Guide' series symbolising "understanding," is posited as a more accessible and lighthearted counterpart to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
This strategic move by xAI not only aligns with Musk's stance against censorship and the 'woke' ideology seen in other AI models but also coincides with his legal actions against OpenAI for purportedly breaching its nonprofit foundation.
While the open-source release has been lauded by advocates for its potential to democratise AI development, it also sparked debate over the risks of such powerful technology being freely available, raising concerns over possible misuse.