Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI will release its first AI model to a select group on Saturday, the billionaire and Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO said on Friday. This comes nearly a year after OpenAIs ChatGPT caught the imagination of businesses and users worldwide, spurring a surge in the adoption of generative AI technology.

xAI is the latest venture from Musk, who has been critical of Big Tech’s AI efforts and censorship. He also vowed to launch a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe to rival Google Bard and Microsoft Bing AI. The team at xAI, launched in July, includes experts from prominent AI research firms like Google’s DeepMind and the Windows parent company. While the firm operates as a separate entity from Musk’s other ventures, such as the X division that oversees his social media site Twitter, it also works closely with those organizations.

The xAI website says the company is actively recruiting experienced engineers and researchers. But there are few other details on its mission. Earlier this year, Musk warned that AI could cause “civilization destruction” and joined other tech leaders in calling for a pause in an out-of-control race to develop the next generation of intelligent machines.

• RELATED STORY: Tech Giant Apple Warns of Slow Holiday Sales, Stock Drops

As Benzinga has previously reported, there is little doubt that xAI will continue to work on developing more sophisticated autonomous systems. However, its focus has also likely shifted to other areas, such as developing more effective machine learning models and finding ways to train AI systems using data more representative of the real world.

Aside from xAI, Musk is still active in his other ventures, including the space exploration company SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla. His philanthropic organization, the Musk Foundation, has also been working on advancing the state of science and technology through grants to universities and other nonprofits.

While it is unclear what the first AI model from xAI will look like, Musk said that, in important respects, it will be better than anything currently available. This is the first time he has publicly shared details about the company’s AI product, a significant milestone for a company just established in July.

The xAI homepage currently features a sign-up form for an AI-related beta program, which will likely be part of the new model release. The form asks people to provide their name and email address, and the company will follow up with more information about the beta program.

While the company is based in California, xAI is primarily comprised of staff members based in Europe and Canada. The dozen named initial members of the team, who are all men, hail from several top science companies, including Vector Institute, Google, and the University of Toronto. Some of the more notable names on the team include a former employee at DeepMind, as well as several researchers who have worked with both Microsoft and Google.