Elon Musk forms new AI company in effort to 'understand reality'

July 12 (UPI) -- Elon Musk is starting a new artificial intelligence company, the billionaire confirmed in a social media post Wednesday.

Musk's new xAI firm will seek to "understand reality," according to the post on Twitter.

The Twitter CEO and Tesla founder did not elaborate further.

The company was incorporated in Nevada in the spring, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

A Financial Times report cited sources indicating Musk's desire to compete with Microsoft's OpenAI.

The xAI Twitter account had one post and more than 199,000 followers as of 3:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

In March, Musk and other big tech leaders called for a temporary pause on artificial intelligence innovation because of "profound risks to society and humanity."

The open letter at the time was also signed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and politician Andrew Yang.

"Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources," the letter said at the time.

In addition to Twitter and Tesla, Musk also is head of SpaceX and the neurotechnology company Neuralink.