Elon Musk plans to build world’s most powerful AI supercomputer, report claims

Anthony Cuthbertson
·2 min read
A Mistral supercomputer at the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ) on 7 June, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany (Getty Images)
A Mistral supercomputer at the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ) on 7 June, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany (Getty Images)

Elon Musk is planning to build the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence supercomputer to power his controversial AI chatbot Grok, according to reports.

The head of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) intends to acquire 100,000 Nvidia semiconductor chips for the endeavour, The Information reported, with plans to have it running by next year.

The plans were laid out in a presentation to investors of his AI startup xAI this month, with Mr Musk reportedly claiming that he wants to build a “gigafactory of compute”.

Using Nvidia’s flagship H100 graphics processing units (GPUs), the proposed machine would be at least four times bigger than the biggest GPU clusters that currently exist.

The report of the multi-billion dollar initiative coincides with a multi-billion dollar funding round for xAI, which the startup announced on Sunday.

Elon Musk launched xAI to take on OpenAI following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 (The Independent)
Elon Musk launched xAI to take on OpenAI following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 (The Independent)

In a blog post detailing the $6 billion Series B funding round, xAI said its primary focus is on the development of advanced AI systems that are “truthful, competent, and maximally beneficial for all of humanity”, referencing its Grok model.

“xAI will continue on this steep trajectory of progress over the coming months, with multiple exciting technology updates and products soon to be announced,” the blog stated.

“The funds from the round will be used to take xAI’s first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies.”

xAI launched Grok in November 2023 as an “anti-woke” alternative to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, built by OpenAI, and Google’s Bard.

Mr Musk said at the time of its unveiling that it allowed X users to ask it “spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems”, such as recipes for Class A drugs like cocaine.

“Grok is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak,” a blog post announcing its launch noted. “Please don’t use it if you hate humour!”

In its latest blog post announcing the new funds, xAI concluded: “The company’s mission is to understand the true nature of the universe.”