‘Funny reference to Microsoft’: Elon Musk debuts Macrohard to emulate entire companies

Elon Musk announced a new joint project between Tesla and xAI called “Macrohard” or “Digital Optimus”, which the billionaire said mimics the function of entire companies. The billionaire announced last year that Macrohard was an effort to replicate work done by Microsoft entirely through artificial intelligence.

But on Wednesday, Musk said Macrohard is now a joint project between xAI and Tesla. The new project comes shortly after Tesla agreed to invest nearly $2 billion in xAI.

Musk says the new project will work on the ‘super low-cost Tesla AI4’ chip. The billionaire stated that Grok AI will act as an ‘enhanced version of turn-by-turn navigation software’ alongside Tesla’s Digital Optimus system, which will process real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse actions.

“Grok is a master chef/navigator with a deep understanding of the world to direct Digital Optimus, which processes and activates the last 5 seconds of real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse movements. Grok is like a much more advanced and sophisticated version of turn-by-turn navigation software.” In a post on X, Musk wrote:

“In principle, it has the ability to emulate the functions of any company. That’s why the program is called MACROHARD, a humorous reference to Microsoft. No other company can do this yet.” Musk added.

Musk introduced Macrohard for the first time in August last year. In the same month, xAI also applied for a trademark for ‘Macrohard’.

In particular, Anthropic’s launch of Claude Cowork representative and subsequent 11 plugins targeting high-end professionals led to a decline in shares of major IT firms last month.

Last month, SpaceX acquired xAI in an all-stock deal that valued the aerospace company at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion. The rocket maker is also preparing for an initial public offering later this year.

Discussions about Grok AI:

Meanwhile, Musk’s Grok AI has been at the center of several controversies over the past year, including a few months ago when the chatbot was used at X to create sexualized images of women and children. The controversy led to xAI receiving warnings from many governments, while countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia also imposed a temporary ban on the chatbot.

Musk’s company was subsequently forced to implement stricter security measures on the chatbot, which later led to the ban being reversed. But the controversy hasn’t stopped Musk from introducing his chatbot, which he often calls the most realistic artificial intelligence on the market.