A month after unveiling Grok, its first generative artificial intelligence chatbot, Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI Corp. is now seeking to raise $1 billion from investors.

The disclosure came in a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which disclosed that along with seeking $1 billion, xAI has already raised nearly $135 million through equity sales since Nov. 9. However, the filing does not include the names of the investors.

Musk revealed in July that he had founded xAI and that it will compete against AI services from companies such as Google LLC and OpenAI LP. The company was launched with several luminaries among its team members, including previous employees of Google, Microsoft Corp., OpenAI, DeepMind Inc., X Corp. and Tesla Inc.

Grok, its first AI chatbot, is claimed by xAI to have been modeled after Doug Adam’s classic book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and is “intended to answer almost anything and, far harder, even suggest what questions to ask!” Grok is designed to answer questions with what the company described as “a bit of wit” with “a rebellious streak,” with a warning not to use the AI “if you hate humor.”

Where Grok differs from existing AIs and large language models, at least according to xAI, is that it has full access to real-time knowledge from X, the company previously known as Twitter. Unlike AI implementations, Grok is pitched as having less censorship, or what xAI describes as being able to “answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.”

Unfortunately, Musk is no Douglas Adams, even if he seemingly thinks he is and is trying to design an AI that reflects a similar personality. That said, early reviews of Grok have been somewhat positive, with the personality traits of the AI described as demonstrating wit and humor with a touch of lightheartedness. In terms of results, the model is said to deliver a high skill level in many tasks, but still makes some mistakes as it is still in development.

Photo: tldv.io