Indeed, Musk suggested that synthetic data — data generated by AI models themselves — is the path forward. “The only way to supplement [real-world data] is with synthetic data, where the AI creates [training data],” he said. “With synthetic data … [AI] will sort of grade itself and go through this process of self-learning.”

OpenAI launched a for-profit subsidiary a year later in order to raise outside capital, including more than $13 billion so far from its biggest backer, Microsoft. However, the non-profit entity, along with employees and investors, currently owns that for-profit subsidiary.