xAI Misses Self-Imposed Deadline for AI Safety Framework, Raising Concerns

xAI's promised safety report is MIA | TechCrunch

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has missed a self-imposed deadline to publish a finalized AI safety framework, as noted by watchdog group The Midas Project. xAI isn't exactly known for its strong commitments to AI safety as it's commonly understood. A recent report found that the company's AI chatbot, Grok, would undress photos of women when asked. Grok can also be considerably more crass than chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT, cursing without much restraint to speak of. Nonetheless, in February at the AI Seoul Summit, a global gathering of AI leaders and stakeholders, xAI published a draft framework outlining the company's approach to AI safety. The eight-page document laid out xAI's safety priorities and philosophy, including the company's benchmarking protocols and AI model deployment considerations. As The Midas Project noted in a blog post on Tuesday, however, the draft only applied to unspecified future AI models "not currently in development." Moreover, it failed to articulate how xAI would identify and implement risk mitigations, a core component of a document the company signed at the AI Seoul Summit. In the draft, xAI said that it planned to release a revised version of its safety policy "within three months" -- by May 10. The deadline came and went without acknowledgement on xAI's official channels. Despite Musk's frequent warnings of the dangers of AI gone unchecked, xAI has a poor AI safety track record. A recent study by SaferAI, a nonprofit aiming to improve the accountability of AI labs, found that xAI ranks poorly among its peers, owing to its "very weak" risk management practices. That's not to suggest other AI labs are faring dramatically better. In recent months, xAI rivals including Google and OpenAI have rushed safety testing and have been slow to publish model safety reports (or skipped publishing reports altogether). Some experts have expressed concern that the seeming deprioritization of safety efforts is coming at a time when AI is more capable -- and thus potentially dangerous -- than ever.

xAI misses its own AI safety deadline so what now

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has missed its self-imposed deadline to publish a finalized AI safety framework, according to watchdog group The Midas Project. The deadline, set for May 10, was established after xAI released a draft framework at the AI Seoul Summit in February. A recent report revealed that the company's AI chatbot, Grok, would remove clothing from photos of women upon request. Grok has also been found to use much more offensive language compared to other chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT, swearing without much hesitation. The draft framework outlined xAI's safety priorities and philosophy, including benchmarking protocols and AI model deployment considerations. However, it only applied to unspecified future AI models "not currently in development" and failed to articulate how xAI would identify and implement risk mitigations. xAI's AI safety track record is already under scrutiny due to its chatbot, Grok, which can undress photos of women when asked and is known for its unrestrained cursing. A recent study by SaferAI found that xAI ranks poorly among its peers due to its "very weak" risk management practices. The missed deadline is notable given Musk's frequent warnings about the dangers of unchecked AI. Other AI labs, including Google and OpenAI, have also faced criticism for rushing safety testing and being slow to publish model safety reports.