In the long list of unlisted human rights, it is the right to contradict oneself that the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, has just illustrated wonderfully. Just days after signing a petition asking companies to “take a break for at least six months” in the race for generative artificial intelligences, Twitter boss Elon Musk bought 10,000 graphics processors. Its unofficial goal seems to be to develop, for its social network, an artificial intelligence model based specifically on language. Known by the acronym LLM (large language model), this technology has the ability to create content and texts independently, provided that it has been trained on large data sets. Currently, it is ChatGPT, a conversational agent prototype developed by OpenAI, which is enjoying great success in this area.
A technology adapted to the new needs of Twitter
The interest, for Twitter, to have an LLM is not defined, but it is guessable. Such a tool can facilitate user research – Elon Musk has regularly complained, since his takeover of the social network, in October 2022, of deficiencies in the “search” function – or even difficulties in attracting advertisers. Indeed, this artificial intelligence has the ability to create specific advertising images, adapted to the centers of interest of the Internet user. But the development of this tool is expensive, and, according to the American media Insider, the order for 10,000 graphics processors required the disbursement of several tens of millions of dollars. However, Twitter is in an unstable financial situation, if we are to believe the statements of its owner.
Musk’s desire to see Twitter become a pioneer in the use of generative artificial intelligence is certainly also linked to the multi-billionaire’s past. With Sam Altman, it was he who co-founded the company OpenAI, today a happy developer of ChatGPT. In 2018, he left the company for good, before vigorously criticizing it this year for its unbridled enthusiasm for large language model technology. The very one that Musk now seems to want to make his own.