Inconsistent, Elon Musk Continues AI Project on Twitter Despite Submitting a Letter to Stop Development

Elon Musk seems to be continuing his plans for the AI project on Twitter. (photo: twitter @elonmusk)

JAKARTA - Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and since October 2022, Twitter, recently made headlines when he led a letter to stop the development of artificial intelligence (AI) due to public concerns. However, despite those efforts, the tech entrepreneur seems to be pushing ahead with his own plans to develop an AI infrastructure.

A report from Business Insider reveals that Musk appears to be moving forward with his plans for an AI project on Twitter. According to two anonymous sources familiar with the company, the Twitter CEO recently purchased nearly 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) that will be used on the platform.

Typically, GPUs are used for large-scale AI models because of the massive computing power required by the technology. This follows a tweet by Musk on March 18, where he said the company would use AI to "detect & highlight manipulation of public opinion" on Twitter.

In the months ahead, we will use AI to detect & highlight manipulation of public opinion on this platform.

Let’s see what the psy ops cat drags in …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2023

The anonymous sources say the project is still in its early stages, but the purchase of a large number of GPUs shows that Musk is "committed" to this project.

One source said that the project works with a large language model. However, the sources also say that the exact role of generative AI on Twitter is still unclear.

Additionally, Twitter recently recruited new talent with an extensive background in AI. In March, engineers Igor Babuschkin and Manuel Kroiss joined Musk's team after working with DeepMind, the AI ​​research arm of Alphabet, Google's parent company.

This development comes just weeks after Musk signed an open letter, along with thousands of other researchers in the tech space, temporarily halting AI development due to risks to humanity.

Musk also warned regulators in 2017 at an event with the United States National Governors Association that AI research needed to be regulated "before it's too late".