Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently resigned from OpenAI, the non-profit organization he co-founded, citing potential conflicts of interest with Tesla’s artificial intelligence initiatives. However, Musk is now rumoured to be launching a new AI startup that could potentially compete with OpenAI.

According to sources, Musk has already formed a team of researchers and engineers and is negotiating with multiple investors to launch the new firm. While the company’s structure is unknown, it looks like a separate company with no direct links to Musk’s previous ventures.

Despite Musk’s success with Tesla and SpaceX, his entry into artificial intelligence has been regarded with scepticism. OpenAI, now known for its chatbot ChatGPT, has spent years and billions of dollars in funding to get to where they are today. They have also attracted and retained many machine learning experts who felt underutilized at companies like Google and Microsoft.

Furthermore, Musk’s reputation for being ruthless and capricious in running his companies could be a deterrent to hiring the AI experts he needs. Many may choose to stay with their current positions at influential companies in tech rather than work for Musk’s new startup.

It’s worth noting that Musk resigned from the board of directors of OpenAI in 2018 owing to potential conflicts of interest with Tesla’s AI projects. This raises concerns regarding the new company’s nature and if it will be affiliated with Tesla.

Developing new AI technology is a complicated and time-consuming process involving substantial money and skill. It remains to be seen if Musk’s new business can compete in this market with existing companies such as OpenAI. Although earlier, Musk and more than 1,000 other AI experts called for a six-month moratorium on training powerful AI systems.