Elon Musk issued a clarification on Monday amid growing speculation about a merger between Tesla and xAI. The billionaire businessman also indicated plans to hold a shareholder vote on investment in the artificial intelligence startup by the automaker — the latest step to deepen integration across his business empire. The remarks came a day after reports suggested that his spacecraft firm would invest will invest $2 billion in xAI as part of a $5 billion funding round aimed at keeping pace with rivals.
The two companies already share close ties with the Grok chatbot (from xAI) now rolling out on Tesla vehicles. Meanwhile engineers affiliated with the automaker had assisted Musk after his 2022 buyout of Twitter — the social media platform now known as X. But a merger does not seem to be on the cards, with the Tesla and xAI chief issuing a one-word response to netizens on Monday: “No.”
Speculation about a merger spiked on Sunday as the tech billionaire suggested that his would hold a shareholder vote on whether the automaker should invest in xAI. He did not specify a timeframe or provide additional details about the possibility. According to a Wall Street Journal report, SpaceX has agreed to invest $2 billion in the artificial-intelligence company
“If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago,” Musk added on X.
Integrating technology, talent and financial backing is a theme that runs across Musk’s empire of companies. Earlier this year, xAI acquired Musk’s X in a $33 billion deal that valued the combined group at $80 billion at the time. The deal meant the social media platform would come in handy to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users’ posts and massive amounts of other data. Investments into xAI would help Grok better compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT by increasing capital toward research and development.