Elon Musk

Elon Musk cofounded xAI and was its CEO in September 2025. He previously served as OpenAI co-chair alongside Sam Altman. His AI-relevant work includes organizational leadership and an authored Tesla strategy for self-driving: in 2016, he proposed using massive fleet learning to develop autonomy ten times safer than manual driving.[7][1][3]

At xAI, the company Musk cofounded, the team introduced Grok on November 3, 2023. It described real-time information through X as a product advantage while acknowledging that search access did not prevent false or contradictory answers.[7][5]

The company Musk cofounded became part of SpaceX on February 2, 2026, when SpaceX acquired xAI.[7][6]

Before xAI, Musk held a governance role at OpenAI and laid out Tesla's autonomy strategy. These earlier activities show his involvement in both an AI research organization and the deployment of driving software.[1][3]

OpenAI's introductory announcement named Musk and Sam Altman as co-chairs. A later announcement said Musk would depart the board but continue donating and advising the organization.[1][2]

In Master Plan, Part Deux, published under his name on July 20, 2016, Musk distinguished installing sensing and computing hardware from refining and validating self-driving software, which he expected to take much longer. He also anticipated a further delay for regulatory approval. His tenfold safety figure was a target, rather than an achieved result.[3]

Musk argued for releasing partial autonomy because he believed it was already safer when used correctly. He explained that Autopilot's beta label was intended “to decrease complacency and indicate that it will continue to improve.” These were his stated reasons for deployment and labeling, rather than independent safety findings.[3]