Musk confirms in court that xAI used OpenAI models to train Grok
mckbrando · x · 2026-08-29
Elon Musk testified in a California federal court on Thursday that his AI startup, xAI, has used OpenAI's models to improve its own. When asked about the practice of model distillation—using a larger 'teacher' model to train a smaller 'student' model—Musk initially deflected but eventually confirmed it was 'partly' true. He defended the practice by stating it is standard across the AI industry to use other AIs for training. While common internally, distillation is also used by smaller labs to mimic the performance of larger competitors. This testimony emerges from Musk's ongoing legal battle with OpenAI over its mission.
Related event: OpenAI Cuts Cursor's Model Access After SpaceX Acquisition(39 posts)→
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