Elon Musk's xAI Acquires X in $33 Billion All-Stock Deal, Merging Social Media and AI Ambitions

Elon Musk's X has a new owner -- Elon Musk's xAI

Elon Musk today said he has merged X and xAI in a deal that values the social network formerly known as Twitter at $33 billion. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. xAI acquired X "in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)," Musk wrote on X today. X and xAI were already collaborating, as xAI's Grok is trained on X posts. Grok is made available to X users, with paying subscribers getting higher usage limits and more features. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Musk said the combined company will "build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." xAI and X are privately held. "Some of the deal's specifics were not yet clear, such as whether investors approved the transaction or how investors may be compensated," Reuters wrote. The reported value of the company formerly called Twitter plunged under Musk's ownership. Fidelity, an X investor, valued X at less than $10 billion in September 2024. But X's value rebounded at the same time that Musk gained major influence in the US government with the inauguration of President Donald Trump. On the AI front, Musk has also been trying to buy OpenAI and prevent the company from completing its planned conversion from a nonprofit to for-profit entity.

Elon Musk says xAI acquired X | TechCrunch

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has acquired his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock deal, he announced in a post on X Friday. "xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction," Musk said. "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)." Musk went on to describe the two companies' futures as "intertwined." He added, "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." The acquisition places X -- the highly influential social media platform Musk purchased in 2022 under its former name, Twitter -- firmly under the umbrella of Musk's AI startup, which he founded in 2023 to compete with OpenAI. While xAI's products, including its AI chatbot Grok, were tightly integrated into the X platform before this deal, Friday's acquisition further combines two of Musk's most high-profile companies. According to publications including The Wall Street Journal, shares of X and xAI will be exchanged for shares of a new holding company called xAI Holdings Corp. The WSJ also reports that executives at both companies believed that it would be easier to raise money for a combined entity. Musk -- who also leads Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink -- notes in his post that this deal values X at $33 billion (lowered from an enterprise value of $45 billion due to the company's $12 billion in debt). Musk originally purchased X for $44 billion in October 2022 and took it private. However, the valuation has swung dramatically in recent years. At one point, Fidelity valued X at less than $10 billion. In the months since the inauguration of President Donald Trump -- for whom Musk aggressively campaigned and for whom Musk now serves under as a special adviser leading DOGE -- X's valuation has risen, largely because investors believe the platform more influential now. Musk said in his post on Friday that X has more than 600 million active users. Musk launched xAI in 2023 and has since beefed up the startup with industry-leading AI researchers from Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and OpenAI, and built out the massive AI data centers needed to catch up with other frontier AI developers. To fuel these efforts, Musk has gone on a historic fundraising campaign, including a $6 billion funding round in December that valued the startup at $45 billion. According to Musk, xAI's valuation is now even higher, at $80 billion. xAI has largely been successful in its mad dash to catch up with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. In February, the startup released Grok 3, a frontier AI model that's competitive with the industry's leading AI models on benchmarks measuring math, science, and coding. But xAI's successes have not stopped Musk from meddling with OpenAI, a startup he co-founded with Sam Altman. Musk is currently trying to thwart OpenAI's for-profit transition -- which it needs to complete to secure future funding -- in more ways than one. The billionaire owner of xAI has made OpenAI's for-profit transition the centerpiece of his lawsuit against OpenAI. Musk also submitted a $97 billion takeover bid for Altman's startup in February. OpenAI's board promptly rejected the idea, but it already may have driven up the market price for OpenAI's assets. One of the major advantages that xAI has over OpenAI and other startups is its access to X. The large body of posts that X has accumulated over the years gives xAI a significant advantage in the race for AI training data. Further, X gives Musk's AI startup a huge consumer app to reach users in. Musk has a history of blurring the lines between his many companies, which has landed him in legal trouble before. With xAI's acquisition of X, the two are now effectively one -- and the move suggests that X's true value may lie in advancing Musk's broader AI ambitions.

Elon Musk's xAI Acquires X, Because of Course

Social platform X struggled after Elon Musk took over, but its fortunes improved dramatically after US President Donald Trump won reelection. Now it will be become part of Musk's AI startup xAI. Elon Musk's artificial intelligence firm xAI has acquired his social media platform X in an all-stock transaction that values the company at $33 billion, including $12 billion worth of debt, the centibillionaire announced Friday. The sale comes just weeks after Musk reportedly raised another roughly $1 billion in debt financing for X that valued the company at $44 billion -- the same price Musk paid for it three years ago. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote in an X post. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Both Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, and Igor Babuschkin, the co-founder of xAI, immediately posted similar messages on X signaling their support of the acquisition. "The future could not be brighter," Yaccarino, the CEO of X, wrote. Musk only reposted Babuschkin's. It is not known whether Yaccarino will stay in the same role or what the acquisition will mean for X's employees. Musk, Yaccarino, and Robert Keele, the head of xAI's legal team, did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication. Musk bought Twitter and later renamed it X in 2022, a deal that involved taking out billions of dollars in loans from a group of Wall Street banks and other lenders. After Musk took over and X's advertising business slumped, the banks reportedly struggled to unload the loans to interested buyers. Lenders typically try to resell debt to other investors quickly to get it off their balance sheets and profit from associated fees. The Wall Street Journal dubbed the fiasco "the worst buyout for banks since the financial crisis." But X's financial situation turned around after President Donald Trump was reelected and Musk was appointed to run the administration's so-called Department of Government Efficiency. More investors became interested in the debt as advertisers began returning and Musk ties to the White House and Trump deepened. Musk also said he gave X investors a 25 percent stake in xAI last year, which helped boost the value of the social media platform and provide more security to lenders, according to reporting from the Financial Times. While xAI previously appeared to be mostly playing catch up with rivals like OpenAI and Google, Musk gave the startup a boost by creating a massive cluster of 100,000 GPUs, enough computing resources to compete with the biggest industry players. The supercomputer, dubbed Collossus, is located in Memphis, Tennessee. At the outset, xAI's stated mission was to understand the nature of the universe. Today, it is best known for creating an "unfiltered" chatbot called Grok. It has been integrated as part of the X platform since late 2023.

Elon Musk's xAI buys Elon Musk's X for $33 billion on paper

A few years after buying Twitter for $44 billion, Elon Musk announced that his AI business xAI has acquired the social media platform that's now known as X. In a tweet, he described it as an all-stock transaction, valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, including $12 billion in debt it had as part of his takeover. Musk has tied the two ventures together closely since launching xAI in the summer of 2023, saying that its access to the vast trove of data from Twitter / X would give it a major advantage, and prominently placing xAI's Grok tool within the social app. As we noted in January, xAI staffers were also X employees, with company laptops and access to its code base. Musk had also previously claimed X investors would own 25 percent of XAI, but as of January, that had not materialized for X employees with shares in the company.

Musk's xAI swallows Musk's X in ego-friendly, all-stock deal

Social media platform magically worth a billion more than what he bought it for Comment Billionaire Elon Musk's xAI is to acquire billionaire Elon Musk's X in a deal that values the former at $80 billion and the latter at $33 billion. While a merger always seemed a possibility, a question mark hovers over the timing. The valuation of X, when one includes $12 billion in debt, comes to $45 billion - conveniently a billion dollars more than when Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, rebranded it as X, and made it what it is today. Musk announced the transaction on X at the end of last week, adding that "xAI and X's futures are intertwined." The deal is an all-stock transaction, and with both companies privately held and lacking investor opposition, we'd take those valuations with a pinch of salt. By other measures, Twitter's value has declined since Musk acquired it. The company has also suffered an exodus of advertisers, although some have since returned to the platform, reportedly only in a nominal manner - just enough to avoid Musk's ire. Musk and his co-investors in X will benefit from the deal. The Tesla CEO through a consolidation of power, and his co-investors by allowing them to gain a stake in xAI. It's more challenging to see what xAI will gain from the acquisition - the company already has access to data on X with which to train its AI, Grok. In 2024, X tweaked its Terms of Service to allow user data to be shared with third parties. xAI would be able to make that dataset exclusive for training its models. X's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, said "the future could not be brighter" in response to Musk's announcement, although Musk did not disclose how the management structure of the merged companies would work. It's possible Yaccarino's loyalty to Musk will result in a continued leadership role, perhaps running the X division within xAI. Looking into the future requires speculation. More Grok is likely, although Musk had already been heavily promoting xAI's chatbot on X. As such, the service would have been further integrated regardless of the acquisition. The main beneficiaries of the acquisition are X investors, who have endured years of turbulence since Musk acquired the platform. Owning shares in a growing AI startup is far more appealing than shares in a declining - though still significant - social media platform. According to Gartner, worldwide generative AI spending is set to hit $644 billion in 2025, up 76.4 percent from 2024.

Musk's xAI buys social media platform X for $45 billion

March 28 (Reuters) - Elon Musk said on Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion, including debt. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said in a post on X, adding that the combined company would be valued at $80 billion. The billionaire's AI startup, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, sources have told Reuters. Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Sandra Maler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Deals

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence group buys X for $45bn

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence group xAI has purchased social media platform X for $45bn, as the billionaire entrepreneur brings together two of his flagship businesses. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk said on Friday evening, adding that he would be combining the data, models, computing power, distribution and talent of the two companies. Musk said the all-stock deal valued xAI at $80bn, although he did not offer specifics about the nature of the transaction. xAI obtained a valuation of $45bn in a $5bn private funding round late last year. The deal announced on Friday, which includes $12bn in debt, values X slightly above the $44bn price that Musk paid to take the company private in October 2022 and comes after a $1bn fundraising round this month. It highlights the rebound in fortunes for X, which slumped following Musk's takeover as advertisers pulled their spending from the platform citing concerns over his hands-off approach to moderation. A group of seven Wall Street banks have also sold almost all the $12.5bn of loans Musk used to finance his takeover of Twitter in 2022. The lenders had been saddled with the debt while Musk sought to turn around X's operations as equity investors repriced their stakes in the platform at dramatic discounts. Investor interest in the loans improved in the weeks following Donald Trump's election victory in November, given the billionaire's proximity to the new administration as a confidant to the president and the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency intent on cutting government red tape. Investors in X include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, 8VC, Goanna Capital and Fidelity Investments. Musk launched his start-up xAI in 2023 to "understand the true nature of the universe" and challenge the dominance of Sam Altman's OpenAI. Since then, it has launched its own chatbot, Grok, and been increasing its data centre expansion with its Colossus supercomputer cluster. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk said on Friday of the X tie-up. "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." Already, data from X, which Musk said has more than 600mn active users, has been used to train Grok. In turn, more sophisticated Grok features are offered to paying premium subscribers of X.

Elon Musk says xAI has acquired X in deal that values social media site at $33 billion

Tesla CEO Elon Musk boards Air Force One with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) as they departs for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., March 22, 2025. Elon Musk said on Friday that his startup xAI has merged with X, his social network, in an all-stock transaction that values the artificial intelligence company at $80 billion and the social media company at $33 billion. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk, the world's richest person, wrote in a post on X. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." He added that the merger would, "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." The Tesla and SpaceX CEO acquired Twitter in a deal valued around $44 billion in late 2022 implementing massive cost cuts and soon renaming it X. Musk launched xAI less than two years ago with a stated goal to "understand the true nature of the universe." The startup has been trying to compete directly with OpenAI, the richly valued AI startup that Musk co-founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab. He later left OpenAI and has recently been involved in a public relations and legal spat with the company and CEO Sam Altman over the direction that it's taken. At xAI, Musk's team has been developing large language models and AI software products, taking on offerings from OpenAI as well as Google, Microsoft, Meta and others.

xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, just purchased X, Elon Musk's social media company

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has purchased X, according to a post shared by Musk. Besides their similar names and owner, the companies are already connected through xAI's chatbot Grok, which is integrated into X. X was acquired by xAI through an all-stock transaction. "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)," Musk writes. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined." The companies plan on combining "data, models, compute, distribution and talent," using X's reach as a social platform to spread "xAI's advanced AI capability." The post offers little detail beyond that, but the motivations could be as financial as they are practical. X, then Twitter, was acquired by Musk in 2022 for $43 billion. xAI, like many leading AI companies, has been raising money as often and as quickly as possible. Combining the two companies, besides the fuzzy potential benefits social media posts could have for training AI, helps ease some of the debt that Musk took on taking Twitter private. The billionaire pulled a similar stunt in 2016 with Tesla, when the car maker merged with SolarCity for $2.6 billion.

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for $33 billion in all-stock deal

Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to Presidend Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."

Musk merges startup xAI and Twitter, betting on AI to revitalize social media

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What just happened? Elon Musk has orchestrated another move in his sprawling business empire, announcing on Friday that his artificial intelligence firm, xAI, has acquired X (formerly Twitter). The all-stock transaction values X at $33 billion, including $12 billion in debt, and xAI at $80 billion, creating a combined entity Musk says will "unlock immense potential" and provide "smarter, more meaningful experiences" for users. In a post on X, Musk stated, "The futures of xAI and X are interconnected. Today, we officially take the step to merge our data, models, computing power, distribution, and talent." This deal marks a significant moment for both companies, which have been on divergent trajectories since Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion. Following his takeover, X faced a series of challenges, including plummeting advertising revenue, mass layoffs that reduced its workforce by 80 percent, and controversial policy changes that alienated major advertisers. Also see: Fear and favor are bringing advertisers back to X under Musk By late 2024, Fidelity had slashed X's valuation to just $12 billion. However, the platform's fortunes began to improve after Donald Trump's reelection and Musk's appointment to lead the Department of Government Efficiency in the new administration. These developments rekindled advertiser interest and helped stabilize X's financial outlook. Meanwhile, xAI has been on a rapid ascent since its founding in 2023. Originally established to explore the nature of the universe through AI research, xAI has become a player in the rocketing artificial intelligence space. Its chatbot, Grok - designed as an "unfiltered" alternative to rivals like OpenAI's ChatGPT - has been integrated into X since late 2023. The company also boasts one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, Colossus, located in Memphis, Tennessee. This infrastructure positions xAI to challenge tech giants such as OpenAI and Google. The merger consolidates the two companies' resources, which already overlap. xAI has been using data from X posts to train its AI models since 2023, following a change to X's privacy policy. This integration allows xAI to refine its algorithms using real-time data while deploying new models directly on X for immediate user feedback. Despite Musk's optimism, the deal raises concerns about transparency and potential conflicts of interest. Both companies are privately held and controlled by Musk, prompting questions about how investors in each entity will be compensated. For example, Columbia Law School professor Eric Talley told The New York Times that while merging the companies resolves some issues related to resource allocation, it could leave some investors feeling shortchanged if the terms favor one side disproportionately. Social media platforms like X are increasingly being repurposed as data-rich training grounds for AI development rather than standalone businesses. Financial analysts have also pointed out that by folding X - a company with declining value - into xAI - a rapidly growing enterprise - Musk effectively boosts the overall valuation of his holdings while leveraging synergies between social media and AI development. This strategy mirrors Musk's 2016 acquisition of SolarCity using Tesla stock - a move that drew scrutiny at the time but ultimately aligned two businesses under a shared vision. For users of X, immediate changes may be subtle. Paying subscribers already have access to Grok, and xAI has long used user data for AI training. However, Musk's comments suggest deeper integration is on the horizon. Enhanced AI-driven features - such as personalized content recommendations and more advanced chatbots - could redefine how users interact with the platform. While Musk presents the merger as a game-changer for both companies and their users, it also highlights broader trends reshaping Silicon Valley. Social media platforms like X are increasingly being repurposed as data-rich training grounds for AI development rather than standalone businesses. As Musk consolidates his ventures under a unified strategy, he positions himself at the forefront of this shift - but not without controversy or skepticism.

Musk's xAI buys his social media platform X

"xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote on X Friday. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." The move may be aimed at protecting investors, who helped him buy purchase X, from losing money. Both X and xAI are privately held and share some major investors. They also share significant resources. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge," Musk wrote. XAI has used data from social media posts on X to train its models, and its chatbot Grok is a prominent feature on the platform. "The move appears sensible, considering the current trend of increased investments in AI, data centres, and computing," said analyst Paolo Pescatore, founder of PP Foresight.

Elon Musk Says He Has Sold X to xAI

Sign up for the On Tech newsletter. Get our best tech reporting from the week. Get it sent to your inbox. Elon Musk said on Friday that he had sold X, his social media company, to xAI, the artificial intelligence start-up he founded in 2023, in an unusual arrangement that may raise conflict-of-interest questions. The all-stock deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $30 billion, Mr. Musk said on X. The price for X is a $14 billion discount from the $44 billion that Mr. Musk paid for social media company in 2022. Both companies are privately held. "XAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Mr. Musk wrote in his post. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." The two Musk companies already share significant resources. The artificial intelligence models of xAI are trained on data posted by X users, the companies share some engineers and xAI's chatbot, Grok, was available to paying X subscribers. Last month, bankers for X told investors that some of the social media's revenue came from xAI. This story is developing. Check back for updates.

Elon Musk's AI Company xAI Buys Elon Musk's Social Media Platform X

The Elon Musk-centered deal is expected to be good for Elon Musk. Elon Musk announced Friday that his company xAI is buying X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock deal. The transaction values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, according to CNBC. "xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)," Musk tweeted Friday evening. Musk purchased Twitter in October 2022 for about $44 billion, changing the name of the company to X, and founded xAI just five months later as an artificial intelligence company. Musk's tweet announcing the sale called X the "real-time source of ground truth" for 600 million active users globally. In reality, Musk's changes to Twitter have transformed it into a hotbed of far-right extremism, where neo-Nazis and conspiracy theorists who were once bannedâ€"from Nick Fuentes to Alex Jonesâ€"have been welcomed back with open arms. Musk had previously said he wouldn't reinstate Jones, who had been banned in 2018, but apparently changed his mind about a year after buying the site. Musk clearly sees an opportunity for his social media company and AI companies to grow better together, perhaps because the X brand has become so toxic to normal people. Traffic at X reportedly plummeted after the 2024 presidential election. "xAI and X’s futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach," Musk's tweet reads. Musk's tweet really tried to stress that his companies are all about "truth," something contradicted by his frequent lies and obfuscations about his activities with DOGE. Just yesterday, Musk said that he was going to give people on Social Security more money, something he has absolutely no authority to do. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge," Musk's tweet reads. "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." Musk closed his tweet by using one of his favorite words, "hardcore," to thank the staff at both companies.

Elon Musk merged X and xAI. Is that self-dealing?

Musk folded X, formerly Twitter, into his startup xAI, and investors are along for the ride. SAN FRANCISCO -- Elon Musk's deal to combine his artificial intelligence lab with his X social media platform underlines how the billionaire tech mogul has parlayed his power into a license to shuffle around his assets, even if the underlying deals are opaque and the financial outcomes unpredictable. Musk, the world's richest man and a key ally of President Donald Trump, announced the deal -- one of the biggest corporate acquisitions so far this year -- in a single post on X last Friday evening, buried amid a stream of posts on politics and videos of him talking about the importance of his efforts to cut down the size of the federal government. XAI, Musk's artificial intelligence lab that he started in mid 2023 to try to jump on the AI wave, had acquired X itself, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for $45 billion, which included taking on $12 billion of debt held by X, Musk said in the post. The massive deal gives the two combined companies a value of over $110 billion, when the debt is taken into account. Details about the transaction beyond what Musk shared on X are sparse. Musk said it was a natural evolution for the two companies that had already been working together. "XAI and X's futures are intertwined ... today we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," he said in his post. "It's opaque and complex, like all of Musk's dealings, and purposefully so," said Adam Cochran, Managing Partner of investment firm CEHV and an adjunct professor of business analysis at Conestoga College. Cochran said it's possible that Musk executed the deal to manage X's debt. "At the end of the day xAI was paying some of its own equity, to buy something that was mostly it's own equity just so Elon could have the same $44B price tag," Cochran said. In this situation, Musk used the rising value of xAI, which had raised money at a valuation of $50 billion in November, to buy X, whose advertising revenue is still below what it was before Musk bought it, according to data from eMarketer. Valuations for AI companies are soaring as the tech industry bets that the technology will revolutionize how people work and do business in the coming years. Musk did not respond to a request for comment. X's value was partly based on its ownership of 25 percent of xAI's shares, which Musk gave to X in exchange for the AI lab being allowed to use data from the social media website to train its algorithms. The companies already shared data and some employees work for both entities. "There is an obvious conflict of interest," Matt Levine, a former mergers and acquisitions lawyer who is now a columnist for Bloomberg News, wrote on Monday. "If you are, say, an xAI shareholder who thinks that xAI is a promising world-changing company and X is a broken social media company, you might be aggrieved to see the company you own wasting $45 billion to bail out another company just because Musk owns it." The xAI-X merger drew comparisons from some analysts to Tesla's 2016 purchase of Solar City, a solar energy company whose board Musk chaired and whose two founders were Musk's cousins. Tesla, where Musk is CEO, bought the heavily indebted company for $2.6 billion and used it to build out its own solar power business. Some investors sued the company, arguing that it only bought Solar City because of Musk's personal connections to the business. A judge later ruled that Tesla paid a fair price for it. Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, who owned shares of both xAI and X before the merger, said he believes the deal is good for both companies, though he did worry at first if the merger could lead to a "Solar City gotcha moment." "That's the first red flag -- was this an Elon inside deal where he waves his wand and something happens?" Munster said. Ultimately though, Musk has the power to do deals between his companies, he said. "I wasn't expecting it, but it makes a ton of sense," Munster said. Musk's work with the government is also drawing accusations of self-dealing. The Washington Post reported in February that the Federal Aviation Authority was close to canceling its 15-year, $2.4 billion agreement with Verizon in favor of Starlink, the satellite internet service run by Musk's space company SpaceX. The company has said it is working with the FAA but only to supplement existing contracts. Still, Musk's investors and legions of supporters are keen to continue working with him. Musk's companies have made innumerable people wealthy over the years, especially Tesla fans who invested in the company early and saw the value of their stock rise rapidly. Even though Tesla shares are down over 31 percent this year amid boycotts because of Musk's political actions, the car company's stock is still up more than 700 percent over the past five years. And while critics mocked Musk's purchase of Twitter as a terrible business decision at the time, few are still saying so today, given the political influence the platform has given Musk. "It's surprisingly straightforward," Munster, the xAI investor said of the deal. "We think this can be multiple times bigger of a company."

Elon Musk says his AI company and X are merging

The all-stock deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, according to Musk's post. The billionaire has increasingly linked the two companies, wielding user data from X to train its AI models. SAN FRANCISCO -- Elon Musk said his social media company X and his artificial intelligence firm xAI are merging, formally combining two entities that had already been sharing capabilities and user data. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote in a Friday X post. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." The all-stock deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, according to Musk's post. Details of the transaction were not immediately clear. Musk shares ownership of X with a group of investors who helped him buy the social network in late 2022. Musk founded xAI in March 2023, and has raised money from outside investors, who valued the company at $50 billion November 2024, according to venture capital data firm Pitchbook. Musk has repeatedly said he wants to turn X into an "everything app," complete with a payments system and the merger formalizes the relationship between the social media company and the AI firm. The two companies have already been closely integrated, with users accessing xAI's AI tools through X, and the AI company using user data from X in order to train its AI models. Since Musk founded xAI, the company has released several versions of its "Grok" AI model, which people can interact with through X. The model is similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT, in that people can ask it questions and have back-and-forth conversations. xAI has also built a massive data center full of high-end computer chips in Georgia in order to train and run its AI models. This is a breaking story and will be updated.

Elon Musk's AI company just engulfed X for $33 billion -- here's what that means

The sale combines 'data, models, compute, distribution, and talent' Elon Musk has officially announced the sale of X in an "all-stock transaction" -- but not to a competitor. Instead, the website formally known as Twitter has been acquired by Musk's very own AI venture, xAI. A $33 billion sale, this move combines two of the largest companies in Musk's growing portfolio. Musk originally bought Twitter in 2022 for a total of $44 billion. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent," Musk said in a post on X. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach. The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to the core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." Like other competing AI brands, xAI is also working on research in the background, developing artificial intelligence in other ways. In his announcement post about the merger, Musk described X as "the digital town square where more than 600m active users go" before highlighting the opportunity to combine data and models. It isn't yet clear what this means for users of X, or for future development of AI under the branding but it looks very much like a consolidation move to shore up the development of Grok against ChatGPT and Gemini. xAI has already used data from the social media site during its initial training program, learning from real-time data and this merger will likely expedite this process. Musk claims combining the two companies would lead to delivering "smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people." Regardless of Musk's reputational standing at present, Grok is an AI tool to be reckoned with -- as we found out ourselves this month during the Tom's Guide AI Madness chatbot tournament.

Musk Merges xAI And X

Elon Musk on Friday said his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, will buy X, the social-media platform he also owns, for $33 billion in an all-stock transaction. The deal will value xAI at $80 billion, making it the second-most valuable AI company behind OpenAI, which is said to be close to finalizing a $40 billion investment with SoftBank. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk said on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge. This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." Musk bought then-Twitter back in 2022. He led a consortium to acquire the social media platform for $44 billion, taking it private once again. Just last month, Anthropic raised a fresh $3.5 billion funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners that valued it at $61.5 billion -- making it the second-most valuable AI company. xAI had last been valued at $50 billion in November after its $6 billion Series C (which Lightspeed also participated in). Just last month the startup introduced the latest iteration of its chatbot, Grok-3, as it tries to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, as well as OpenAI.

AI eats social media as xAI swallows X

Why it matters: The entire social media world -- including X, Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, Google-owned YouTube, even the younger TikTok -- has become a legacy platform. Catch up quick: 2 1/2 years after he bought Twitter, Musk has done little to grow its business or actually transform the company into the "everything app" he once planned. Yes, but: X is a mature business with thousands of employees, hundreds of millions of customers and about $2 billion in estimated global ad revenue. xAI, on the other hand, is a growing two-year-old startup that won headlines for getting a giant new data center in Memphis, Tenn. built fast. By the numbers: Musk says xAI's paper valuation based on its most recent private investment round is now $80 billion. The big picture: Everyone in tech is benefiting from AI's magic multiplication powers right now. The intrigue: Dollars aren't all that's flowing between X and xAI. Meta does exactly the same thing with its users' posts, of course. The bottom line: As AI's conquest of tech-industry mindshare advances, social media is decreasingly important as a business -- and increasingly treated as an exploitable data resource to build AI.

X is sold. But Musk is still in control.

X owner Elon Musk announced late Friday that the social media site had been sold ... to xAI, Musk's own Artificial Intelligence company. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk posted on X. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent ... this will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." xAI purchased X in an all-stock transaction, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The AI company is now valued at $80 billion, with X valued at $33 billion, which includes $12 million in debt. Musk purchased X, then known as Twitter, for $44 billion in October 2022. What does this mean to the X user? Likely that AI will be integrated more fully into the X experience. The social media site has aggressively pushed its generative AI chatbot, Grok, on users since it launched in 2023. Musk also changed its terms of service shortly after the November election, requiring users to agree to have AI trained on their tweets. In announcing the sale, Musk claimed X has 600 million "active users." He didn't say "monthly active users," which experts believe to be almost half that number. The now-private company has shed millions of users by multiple measures since Musk's purchase, and is projected to lose millions more in 2025.

Elon Musk's xAI firm buys social media platform X for $33bn

Specifics of deal remain unclear, including how X's leaders will be integrated into new company Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence firm has acquired Musk's X - the social media platform formerly known as Twitter - for $33bn, marking the latest twist in the billionaire's rapid consolidation of power. The all-stock deal announced on Friday combines two of Musk's multiple portfolio companies, which also include automaker Tesla and SpaceX, and potentially eases Musk's ability to train his AI model known as Grok. Musk announced the transaction in a post on X, saying: "The combination values xAI at $80bn and X at $33bn ($45B less $12B debt)." "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," he wrote. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." Neither X nor xAI spokespersons immediately responded to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remained unclear, such as how investors may be compensated, how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or the prospect of regulatory scrutiny. "This development feels surprising and somewhat unexpected," PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. "To a certain extent, it closes a chapter in the turbulent saga of X." "The choice of $45bn is not a coincidence," said DA Davidson & Co analyst Gil Luria. "It is $1bn higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022" and he can share the value of the xAI business with X co-investors. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has also consolidated his power in Washington DC by overseeing the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge. That has also put him in the position to potentially influence agencies that oversee his business dealings. An investor in xAI, and now in the combined entity, told Reuters they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. The investor declined to be named. Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the integration would drive deeper integration with Grok. Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10bn in a funding round that valued the company at $75bn, according to a media report. In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4bn bid with a consortium for the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which was rejected, with OpenAI saying that the startup was not for sale. Musk co-founded OpenAI with CEO Sam Altman in 2015. Musk competes directly with the popular OpenAI platform and has sued in federal court in California to prevent his rival from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge earlier this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover. The wide release of AI software has set off a flurry of investment and competition in Silicon Valley. In an effort to be more efficient, companies are seeking ways to integrate the software into nearly every part of their operations. As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data centre capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called Colossus, is touted as the largest in the world. xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February, as it tries to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The X platform can serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data. Musk clinched a deal in 2022 to buy X, then Twitter, for $44bn, ending its run as a public company since its 2013 initial public offering, declaring that "the bird is freed" once the acquisition closed. He gutted the company's workforce after the acquisition, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence grows in the Trump administration. The seven banks that extended $13bn in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they could sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions. This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter. After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specialises in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off." Separately, a US judge on Friday rejected a bid by Musk to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company.

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for $33 billion in all-stock deal

Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to President Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." It's not clear if the move will change anything for X users -- xAI already uses data from X user posts to train its artificial intelligence models and paying X users have access to its AI chatbot, Grok. © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Elon Musk Folds X Into xAI, Creating a $113 Billion Juggernaut - Decrypt

In a consolidation of his tech businesses, X owner Elon Musk said in a post on Friday that xAI, the developers of Grok, had acquired X (formerly Twitter) in an all-stock transaction. According to Musk, the merger values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in April 2022. By October 2024, Fidelity Investments adjusted the valuation of its stake in X, estimating the company's overall value to be approximately $9.4 billion. Though its valuation had recovered somewhat by December 2024, it was still down a whopping 77% from Musk's purchase price. How Musk arrived at a $33 billion valuation, in other words, would make for interesting reading. Already the head of several companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, Musk launched xAI in July 2023, a year after purchasing Twitter. While he said the goal of xAI was to "understand reality," an ongoing feud with former business partner OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also a driving factor. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X Friday. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." Calling X "the digital town square," Musk said the platform boasted over 600 million active users. However, Meta, which launched a rival social media platform, Threads, in July 2023, and Bluesky, which launched in February of that year, have been trying to woo away users. Bluesky's user count surpassed 27.44 million users in January 2025, many of whom had left Twitter after Musk's takeover. At the same time, bolstered by its connections to Facebook and Instagram, Threads had over 320 million monthly active users as of February 2025. Musk made headlines in July of last year when it was revealed that Grok would be trained on X user data. The setting can be disabled, but is on by default for user accounts. Some social media users jeered today's announcement, mocking the apparently sizable valuation boost in a deal between two of Musk's own companies. The merger, however, could serve a more pragmatic purpose. With X still carrying significant debt -- $12 billion, according to Musk's tweet -- folding it into the xAI umbrella could give the company access to new investors, improved valuation, and a narrative pivot away from Twitter's chaotic takeover. "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress," he said.

Elon Musk's AI startup acquires X in deal that values social media platform at $33 billion

Elon Musk at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., on March 14, 2019.Jae C. Hong / AP file Elon Musk said Friday that his AI startup, xAI, had acquired his social media platform, X. Musk said that the deal was an all-stock transaction that valued X at $33 billion. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk wrote. X recently raised $1 billion from investors, valuing it at $44 billion, according to Bloomberg. Musk took X (then Twitter) private in 2022 at nearly the same valuation.

Elon Musk's xAI to acquire his X social media platform

Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday said his artificial intelligence startup xAI is buying his social networking platform X in a deal valuing the company, once known as Twitter at $33 billion. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk said in a post on his social network. X has more than 600 million users, and its future is "intertwined" with that of xAI, launched two years ago, according to Musk. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said of combining the two companies. "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." The companies are being combined in an all-stock deal that values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, factoring in the social network's $12 billion debt. Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 in a transaction that included debt and launched xAI the following year, spending billions of dollars on high-end Nvidia chips for the venture. xAI in February released the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China's DeepSeek. Musk has promoted Grok 3 as "scary smart," with 10 times the computational resources of its predecessor that was released in August last year. Grok 3 is also going up against OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT -- pitting Musk against collaborator-turned-arch rival Sam Altman. Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015. Created as a counterweight to Google's dominance in artificial intelligence, the project got initial funding from Musk. Musk left three years later, and then in 2022 OpenAI's release of ChatGPT created a global technology sensation -- which made Altman a tech world star. Their relationship has become increasingly toxic and litigious ever since. X's billionaire owner, the world's richest person, is a major financial backer of President Trump and heads the White House's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, that has been slashing the ranks of government employees. Industry analysts at Emarketer this week forecast that ad revenue at X will grow this year as brands fear retaliation by politically connected Musk if they don't spend on the platform. "Many advertisers may view spending on X as a cost of doing business in order to mitigate potential legal or financial repercussions," Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said.

Elon Musk says he's sold X to Elon Musk's xAI

The combined X and xAI company is worth $80 billion, according to Musk. Elon Musk has announced that his AI company, xAI -- which is supposedly also working on a videogame -- has acquired his social media company, X, in an all-stock transaction. The Musk-to-Musk deal values X at $45 billion before subtracting $12 billion in debt. Before rebranding it as X, Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. Last year, Fidelity estimated that X's value had dipped substantially since then, appraising the social media site at 72% less than Musk's purchase price. Estimations of X's value have increased following the election and inauguration of Musk ally Donald Trump (who has gone so far as to promote Musk's cars on the White House lawn), but according to the New York Times, X is still struggling to hit revenue targets following an exodus of major advertisers. Citing an internal email, the paper reports that X has brought in $91 million in ad revenue this year, "well below its first-quarter target of $153 million." Musk has now assigned a value of $80 billion to xAI, whose main products are Grok, a large language model competitor to ChatGPT which is already integrated with X, and its image generation component, Aurora. xAI raised $6 billion in new funding in December. Part of xAI's advantage is that it can use X posts as training material. Unless users opt out, their data may be used "to train and fine-tune Grok and other AI models developed by xAI," the X user settings say. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk said in a post on X. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." In November 2024, Musk said that he was also launching a videogame studio within xAI, though we haven't heard about what this department may be working on, except that it will certainly cater to the reactionary 'anti-woke' crowd Musk courts.

Elon Musk says xAI startup buying X platform

San Francisco (AFP) - Elon Musk on Friday said his artificial intelligence startup xAI is buying his social networking platform X in a deal valuing the company once known as Twitter at $33 billion. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk said in a post on his social network. X has more than 600 million users, and its future is "intertwined" with that of xAI, launched two years ago, according to Musk. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said of combining the two companies. "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." The companies are being combined in an all-stock deal that values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, factoring in the social network's $12 billion debt. Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 in a transaction that included debt and launched xAI the following year, spending billions of dollars on high-end Nvidia chips for the venture. xAI in February released the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China's DeepSeek. Musk has promoted Grok 3 as "scary smart," with 10 times the computational resources of its predecessor that was released in August last year. Grok 3 is also going up against OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT - pitting Musk against collaborator-turned-arch rival Sam Altman. Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015. Created as a counterweight to Google's dominance in artificial intelligence, the project got initial funding from Musk. Musk left three years later, and then in 2022 OpenAI's release of ChatGPT created a global technology sensation -- which made Altman a tech world star. Their relationship has become increasingly toxic and litigious ever since. X's billionaire owner, the world's richest person, is a major financial backer of US President Donald Trump and heads a Department of Government Efficiency that has been slashing the ranks of government employees. Industry analysts at Emarketer this week forecast that ad revenue at X will grow this year as brands fear retaliation by politically connected Musk if they don't spend on the platform. "Many advertisers may view spending on X as a cost of doing business in order to mitigate potential legal or financial repercussions," said Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Elon Musk has sold X to his own AI company xAI for $33 billion

The tech billionaire and Donald Trump advisor made the announcement on Friday. It's unclear what will change for users of the social media site. Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Friday that he has sold social media site X, formerly known as Twitter when he bought it over two years ago, to his own artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI in a $33 billion (€30.5 billion) all-stock deal. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk, who is also head of astronautical company SpaceX and carmaker Tesla, said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach". "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent," Musk posted. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge," he added. Musk said the deal values xAI at $80 billion (€74 billion) and X at $33 billion (€30.5 billion). Ambitions for xAI The South African-born tech mogul, who also serves as an advisor to President Donald Trump heading the unofficial DOGE department, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion (€40 billion) in 2022, gutted its staff, and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation, and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "Since its founding two years ago, xAI has rapidly become one of the leading AI labs in the world, building models and data centres at unprecedented speed and scale," Musk wrote on X. Musk announced in December that the AI start-up would be expanding its supercomputer 'Colossus' in a bid to take on rivals like OpenAI, increasing the number of graphics processing units (GPUs) in order to develop new AI models at faster rates. It's not clear if the move will change anything for X users - xAI already uses data from X user posts to train its AI models and paying X users have access to its AI chatbot, Grok.

Musk's AI start-up acquires X

X, which was bleeding valuation, has been able to recover in recent months as Musk takes on more influential roles in the US government. Elon Musk announced last Friday (28 March) that his artificial intelligence start-up xAI has acquired his social media platform X. In a post on his platform, Musk said that the combined companies will deliver "smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people". According to the post, this acquisition now values xAI at $80bn and X at $33bn. The Wall Street Journal reports that all shares of X and xAI will be exchanged for shares in a new holding company called xAI Holdings Corp. The company was created a day before Musk's announcement and names him as president. Moreover, the financial publication also reports that company executives believe placing X under the xAI umbrella will make it easier to raise money for the combined businesses. Musk said that the future of the two companies are "intertwined", adding that the acquisition now combines their data, models, compute, distribution and talent. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," he said. xAI's products, including its AI chatbot Grok are already integrated into X, with many concerned about the AI clutter on the platform and its seemingly weak guardrails. However, this acquisition further connects the two, possibly improving xAI's ability to train its models. X's current valuation at $33bn is lowered from its enterprise value of $45bn, considering the company has a $12bn debt, Musk elaborated on his post. He purchased X - then known as Twitter - for $44bn in late 2022, in what can only be described as a messy deal. Since then, the company's valuation dropped significantly. Fidelity - the mutual fund which helped Musk purchase X - estimated in 2023 that the company's valuation was 71.5pc lower than what it was initially purchased for. However, Musk, who has close ties with US president Donald Trump and leads the controversial US Department of Government Efficiency, has been able to bring back the company's valuation significantly in recent months, largely because investors now view Musk as more influential due to his high profile political connections. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news. Elon Musk at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Elon Musk's xAI acquires X at $33B valuation - SiliconANGLE

Elon Musk today announced that xAI Corp. has acquired X Corp. in an all-stock transaction. The deal values X at $33 billion excluding debt, Musk stated in a post on the social network. He added that xAI is now worth $80 billion. That's up from the $50 billion valuation the artificial intelligence provider reportedly received in its most recent funding round last year. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk wrote. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Musk bought Twitter Inc. in 2022 for about $44 billion and renamed it to X shortly thereafter. He launched xAI the following year to compete with OpenAI in the large language model market. The AI startup went on to raise more than $12 billion in funding over multiple rounds. Recent reports indicate that xAI and X had already integrated some of their business operations prior to the deal. In January, The Verge cited sources as saying that all of the LLM developer's staffers are also X employees. Those staffers reportedly received corporate laptops from the social network along with access to its code base. The acquisition might be conducive to xAI's fundraising efforts. Now that it has a presence in the multibillion-dollar social media market, xAI might make the case to investors that it has more revenue growth opportunities than when it focused solely on AI. The company's AI business currently generates only limited revenue: xAI reportedly told investors last November that it was "on pace" to reach $100 million in annual sales. In February, Bloomberg reported that the LLM developer was seeking to raise about $10 billion in funding at a $75 billion valuation. That's less than the $80 billion it's worth in the wake of the X acquisition. Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Valor Equity Partners are among the returning investors that could reportedly participate in the round.

Elon Musk's xAI startup just bought X for $45 billion

Elon Musk said on Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion, including $12 billion in debt. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said in a post on X, adding that the combined company would be valued at $80 billion. Neither X nor xAI immediately responded to a request for comment. The billionaire's AI startup, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors in a funding round that valued the company at $40 billion, sources told Reuters earlier.

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for $33 billion in all-stock deal

Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to Presidend Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for $33 billion in all-stock deal

Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to President Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." It's not clear if the move will change anything for X users -- xAI already uses data from X user posts to train its artificial intelligence models and paying X users have access to its AI chatbot, Grok.

Elon Musk's sale of X to xAI just made fraud lawsuit a 'lot spicer'

Billionaire investor Elon Musk said that the futures of his AI startup xAI and social media platform X are "intertwined" after announcing the sale of X to xAI. Billionaire investor Elon Musk has sold his social media platform X to his AI startup xAI in an all-stock deal, sparking controversy as it coincides with a US judge rejecting his bid to dismiss a lawsuit tied to the social media platform. The transfer of ownership of X to xAI on March 28 means that the class-action lawsuit against Musk -- accusing him of defrauding former Twitter shareholders by delaying the disclosure of his initial investment in the social media platform -- has become "a whole lot spicer," Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran said in a March 28 X post. On the same day that Musk said "xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction," a US judge reportedly rejected Musk's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. Cochran said it has "opened up his AI entity to exposure here too, and it's a much bigger pie." Musk said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, factoring in $12 billion in debt from the $45 billion valuation. He originally bought X, formerly Twitter, for around $44 billion in April 2022. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," he said, adding: "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." However, Cochran claimed that "Musk used his pumped up xAI stock to pay multiple times over value for X, but still take an $11B loss on the transaction." He said that Musk is "screwing over xAI investors, and X investors" and was executed to sell user data to xAI. Related: Elon Musk's 'government efficiency' team turns its sights to SEC -- Report xAI is best known for its AI chatbot "Grok" which is built into the X platform. When Musk released it in November 2023, he claimed it could outperform OpenAI's first iteration of ChatGPT in several academic tests. Musk explained at the time that the motivation behind building Grok is to create AI tools equipped to assist humanity by empowering research and innovation. While Cochran said that Grok being valued at $80 billion is an "insanely dumb valuation," crypto developer "Keef" disagrees. Keef said, "This is shady all around, but given the day, Grok is genuinely probably the top model for various tasks."

xAI acquires X, formerly Twitter in all-stock transaction confirms Elon Musk

TL;DR: Elon Musk's AI startup xAi has merged with X, formerly Twitter, in an all-stock deal valuing the social platform at $33 billion. The merger values xAI at $80 billion and aims to combine AI capabilities with X's reach, enhancing user experiences and accelerating global impact. Elon Musk has announced his AI startup company xAi has officially merged with X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter in an all-stock transaction that puts the value of the social platform at $33 billion. Musk announced the news via his personal X account, where he said the merger values the social media platform, or as he describes the digital town square for the world, at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt), slightly less than the $44 billion he paid for it in 2022. Additionally, the merger has valued xAI at $80 billion, with Musk saying the future of both companies is "intertwined," and now that the merger has taken place, "We officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." CNBC reports that since Musk privately owns both companies, the transaction likely involved a stock swap, which involved X investors getting paid out in xAI shares. Musk wrote in the announcement that the combination of both companies would "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Furthermore, Tesla's CEO wrote that the combined company would enable the delivery of smarter and more meaningful experiences to "billions of people" and the creation of a platform that "doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates it."

Musk's xAI Buys Social Media Platform X for $45 Billion

Elon Musk said on Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion, including $12 billion debt. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said in a post on X, adding that the combined company would be valued at $80 billion. Neither X nor xAI immediately responded to a request for comment. The billionaire's AI startup, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors in a funding round that valued the company at $40 billion, sources told Reuters earlier.

Musk says xAI buys social media platform X for $45 billion

Elon Musk said on Friday his artificial intelligence firm xAI has bought his social media platform X. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk wrote in a post on X. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." The $45 billion deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, more than $10 billion less than he paid for the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022. The all-stock transaction included $12 billion debt, Musk said. The tech billionaire said he hopes the approach will deliver "smarter, more meaningful experiences" to users while remaining true to "seeking truth and advancing knowledge." "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress," he wrote. Musk, who also owns aerospace company SpaceX and leads electric vehicle maker Tesla, touted xAI's development in its first two years as he seeks to keep up in the AI race. Describing X as a "digital town square" he claimed it is now one of the most efficient companies in the world under his leadership. Upon purchasing then-Twitter in 2022, Musk sought to overhaul the company. The chaotic takeover was marked by the quick firings of top executives, a reduction in half of the company's workforce and a rollback of some policies. The approach resembles his leadership of President Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which seeks to reduce government waste and bureaucracy. It is not immediately clear how each company will change, though they already overlap to some degree with xAI's Grok chatbot available on X.

Elon Musk Sells X to His Own XAI for $33 Billion in All-Stock Deal

Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to Presidend Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Musk's xAI buys social media platform X for $45 billion

On Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," Elon Musk says cost-cutting measures won't impact services like social security. Elon Musk said on Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion, including debt. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said in a post on X, adding that the combined company would be valued at $80 billion. The billionaire's AI startup, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, sources have told Reuters.

'Futures Are Intertwined': Elon Musk xAI Buys His Own Social Media Platform, X, in a $33 Billion Deal

Musk said that the move would officially combine the data and talent of the two companies. Elon Musk announced on Friday that xAI, his AI startup, had acquired X, his social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction combining two of Musk's highest-profile companies. In a post on X, Musk wrote that the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, giving the two companies a total value of $113 billion. The new joint entity will be known as XAI Holdings, per Bloomberg. The goal of the acquisition is to build a social media site with advanced AI features. In other words, Musk claimed that xAI's acquisition of X will allow xAI to bring advanced "smarter, more meaningful" AI experiences to X's more than 600 million active users. Related: Elon Musk's Newest AI Chatbot Outperformed ChatGPT in One Key Area "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote in the X post, which has garnered more than 55 million views. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." xAI and X have been slowly integrating for years. According to Bloomberg, xAI has reportedly used data from X to develop its flagship product, an AI chatbot named Grok that sets itself apart from competitors like ChatGPT and Gemini by incorporating sarcasm and humor. Premium X users were the first to access Grok on X in December 2023. X and xAI are both private companies, so no details of the deal were made public except for Musk's post. Related: Elon Musk Releases the AI Model Behind Grok, a Competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT Grok is available on web browsers and mobile devices, but it is also integrated into the X platform. X users can use Grok to ask questions, brainstorm, and solve problems by visiting x.com or the X app on iOS or Android and clicking the Grok icon in the navigation bar.

Elon Musk's xAI Acquires His Social Media Firm X at $33 Billion Valuation

It raised $10 billion in a funding round to claim $75 billion valuation Elon Musk's xAI has acquired X in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion (roughly Rs. 2,82,447 crore) and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with his co-investors in the company formerly known as Twitter. He said the combination values "xAI at $80 billion (roughly Rs. 6,84,643 crore) and X at $33 billion (roughly Rs. 2,82,447 crore) -- ($45 billion (roughly Rs. 3,85,111 crore) less $12 billion debt (roughly Rs. 1,02,699 crore)). Representatives for X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remain unclear, such as how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or whether there would be regulatory scrutiny. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is also a close ally of US President Donald Trump and heads the Department of Government Efficiency. Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns the investment company Kingdom Holding, said he had requested the development. He noted his companies are the second-largest investors in X and xAI. "After this deal, the value of our investments is expected to reach between $4 billion (roughly Rs. 34,233 crore) -$5 billion (roughly Rs. 42,791 crore) ... and the meter is running," he said in a post on X. D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said the price tag for X of $45 billion $45 billion (roughly Rs. 3,85,111 crore) when debt was included was not a coincidence. "It is $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,558 crore) higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022." An investor in xAI who declined to be identified said they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the deal would drive deeper integration with Grok, the investor said. OpenAI Rivalry Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion (roughly Rs. 85,583 crore) in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion (roughly Rs. 6,41,840 crore), according to a media report. It competes with the likes of Microsoft-backed OpenAI as well as with Chinese startup DeepSeek. In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion (roughly Rs. 8,33,475 crore) bid with a consortium for OpenAI, which was rejected and he has sued to prevent the ChatGPT maker from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover. As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the largest in the world. xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February. The X platform could serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data. After buying Twitter, Musk gutted the company's workforce, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence in the Trump administration grows. The seven banks that extended $13 billion (roughly Rs. 1,11,244 crore) in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they were able to sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions. This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter. After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off." Separately, a US judge on Friday rejected a bid by Musk to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company. Thomson Reuters 2025

Elon Musk Says His xAI Company Has Acquired X

Before joining Investopedia, David Marino-Nachison was an editor at The Wall Street Journal focused mainly on daily markets and investing news. He also worked on The Journal's publishing desk; as a writer and editor covering stocks at Barron's; as an editor of features at MarketWatch; and on product development efforts at The Journal. Elon Musk's latest move might sound a bit like a math problem. In a Friday afternoon message on his social media network X, the Tesla (TSLA) CEO said his artificial intelligence company, xAI, had acquired X in an all-stock transaction. The deal values the companies at $80 billion and $33 billion respectively, the latter number which he said reflects a $45 billion value for X and $12 billion of debt. Those figures are in line with a recent Bloomberg report of about $1 billion in fundraising at X. Musk's 2022 acquisition of Twitter, which he renamed X, valued the company at $44 billion. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote Friday. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Musk's stated valuation for X, which he said has more than 600 million active users, compares with Visible Alpha's estimates of about $20 billion for Reddit (RDDT) and more than $15 billion for Snap (SNAP). Tech giant Meta Platforms' (META) estimated market cap is above $1.5 trillion. Musk's other companies include SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

Elon Musk Sells X To His Own Company

Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to President Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X.

Elon Musk Says His AI Company Acquired X at Valuation of $33 Billion

Trump Team's War-Plans Group Chat Triggers Avalanche of Memes Since buying Twitter and rebranding it as X, tech oligarch Elon Musk has sought to bring the social media platform into alignment with xAI, his artificial intelligence venture. Now, he says, that company has acquired the app, signaling that users' content and behavior will be core to the AI business. Musk of course announced the deal in a post on X on Friday, writing, "@xAI has acquired @X in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)." Back in 2023, X updated its policies to reflect that it could collect information from users to train AI models -- then, the following year, it made it essentially impossible to opt out of that arrangement. X has also integrated Grok, a chatbot developed by xAI, directly into the platform. The current iteration of the model, Grok 3, includes a search function as well as a feature meant to help with problem-solving in math, science, and coding. Last year, investors who had backed Musk's Twitter takeover and stood to lose billions as the company's valuation plunged due to an advertiser exodus triggered by a sharp rise in hate speech and extremism were compensated with a 25 percent stake in xAI. Musk's statement on the merger continued: "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach. The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge." Musk claimed that xAI had "become one of the leading AI labs in the world" since it was founded two years ago, while X -- where he said he had fired some 80 percent of the workforce upon his arrival in 2022 -- was "one of the most efficient companies in the world," and a place where people can "find the real-time source of ground truth." In fact, X is a bastion of right-wing misinformation, much of it spread by Musk himself. Grok itself once confirmed this when asked, though it was apparently later "recalibrated" to give a different answer. Many critics immediately looked askance at the deal because of privacy concerns. Gary Marcus, a psychologist and cognitive scientist who has built two AI companies, replied on X: "This feels like profound news: Like it or not, everything you have ever posted here -- and maybe your DMs and maybe your click history -- will now potentially go towards training xAI." Technologist and venture capitalist David Galbraith took a similar view, writing, "If you thought 'you are the product' with Google ads, with x.com you are now like a human battery in the Matrix." Others found the circular structure of the deal to be suspect. Mark B. Spiegel, an equity investor and portfolio manager at Stanphyl Capital Partners who has long voiced skepticism of Musk's corporate empire, suggested that the world's wealthiest man was only covering the exposure he'd created by paying too much for Twitter in the first place ($44 billion, with $13 billion in debt financing): "'Congratulations,' xAi 'investors'!" he wrote. "You just bailed out one of the most egregiously overpriced transactions in history!" Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of the electric vehicle news site Electrek, which often covers Musk's automaker Tesla, pointed out that Musk had been able to artificially inflate X's valuation by making the offer through his other company, calling him "a master of negotiating with himself." Now xAI will carry the billions in debt remaining from Musk's acquisition of Twitter, and it's far from clear if this self-dealing maneuver will salvage that original deal, with some detractors arguing that both companies are overvalued. Musk was optimistic, however, signing off on his statement with a vague promise: "This is just the beginning." For now, anyway, the Musk circus will carry on.

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for $33 billion in all-stock deal

Elon Musk has sold social media platform X to his xAI company in a $33 billion all-stock deal. The acquisition aims to merge xAI's AI expertise with X's vast reach. Musk values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, enhancing user experiences with advanced AI.Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to Presidend Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."

A new star in the AI constellation

Elon Musk's xAI acquiring X for $33 billion showcases the integration of AI with social media. This deal aims to use AI models to enhance content delivery, crucial for both profitability and data acquisition for xAI's chatbot. As competition heats up from other AI ventures and rivals in the automotive sector, Musk faces challenges ahead.The acquisition by Elon Musk's xAI of X for $33 bn, a deal announced last week, reinforces the symbiotic relationship between social media and AI. A unified structure that trains AI models on user-generated content to deliver synthetic content on a large delivery platform closes a profitable loop. X has been struggling with a flight of advertising dollars since content curation was relaxed when Musk bought it. xAI needs data to train its chatbot Grok, and the fancy valuation of the company will spread cheer among Musk's co-investors in X. The combination of media and generative AI shortens the path to profitability for both, with tech making it possible to target content and advertising far more precisely. This is an obvious benefit Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is exploiting on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Musk is gatecrashing the media and AI parties. He must catch up with Microsoft-backed OpenAI-which xAI bid for unsuccessfully-as well as spiffy Chinese startups that are raining on Silicon Valley's AI parade. AI is key to Musk's vision of battery-powered, driverless Tesla cars. It's just that the world's richest man isn't pushing the tech frontiers anymore. BYD, a Chinese rival, is outselling Teslas by stuffing its cars with automation and recharging their batteries in minutes. Musk's vision for Tesla, the world's most fancied automobile company, seems to be slipping away as rivals in the US and China overtake it in driverless travel. Profits from Starlink, Musk's venture to shroud the world with internet connectivity, are questionable if the cost of placing a global constellation of communications satellites is factored in. Musk has managed to fold X's troubles into the unstoppable investor appetite for AI. He has a bigger battle on his hands, convincing investors he is gaining AI superiority so that they remain invested in Tesla. It doesn't help that Musk's sojourn in Washington is denting customer and investor loyalty for Tesla cars.

Elon Musk's xAI Has Acquired Elon Musk's X For $33 Billion

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy. In a dramatic development, Elon Musk has just announced the merger of two of his major companies, with his AI-focused enterprise xAI now acquiring his social media platform X in an all-stock deal. To wit, Elon Musk has just announced that xAI has formally acquired X in an all-stock deal that values his AI-focused enterprise at $80 billion and his social media platform at $33 billion inclusive of $12 billion in liabilities. This means that the deal bestows a gross valuation of $45 billion on X before factoring in its debt load of $12 billion. Elon Musk went on to note: "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Bear in mind that Elon Musk took X (then called Twitter) private back in 2022 in a $44 billion deal. Since then, Musk has managed to stem X's cash bleed, with the company reportedly generating $1.2 billion in adjusted EBITDA in 2024. However, despite boasting of a user base of 600 million users, X has continued to languish under a perennial cloud of uncertainty, largely due to the continued hesitation of big-ticket advertisers to spend ad dollars on the platform. In contrast, xAI is rapidly scaling the ladder of commercial success, with its Grok LLM largely comparible with OpenAI's cutting-edge models. xAI currently boasts of a mega cluster of around 200,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, under the banner of the Colossus super computer. Bear in mind that xAI and NVIDIA were able to bring the Colossus online in just 122 days when it would ordinarily take "many months to years" to operationalize such an intricate system. What's more, xAI was able to commence the training of its Grok LLM within 19 days of the first H100 GPU rack rolling onto the floor of its AI gigafactory. Of course, the merger of X and xAI paves the way for Elon Musk to realize his long-standing dream of creating his own super app.

Musk's xAI startup swallows up X social network in surprise deal

Elon Musk said his xAI artificial intelligence startup has acquired the X platform, which he also controls, at a valuation of $33 billion, marking a surprise twist for the social network formerly known as Twitter. "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion," the billionaire wrote Friday in a post on X. The value of X is $45 billion when including $12 billion of debt, he said, describing the purchase as an all-stock transaction. The deal gives the new combined entity, called XAI Holdings, a value of more than $100 billion, not including the debt, according to a person familiar with the arrangement, who asked not to be identified because the terms weren't public. Morgan Stanley was the sole banker on the deal, representing both sides, other people said.

Elon Musk Acquires His Own Social Media Platform X Through xAI In $33 Billion Deal, Says Combined Entity Now Worth $80 Billion

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has acquired his social media company X, formerly Twitter, in an all-stock deal valued at $33 billion. What Happened: On Friday, Musk announced that xAI had officially acquired X, with the deal valued at $45 billion, including $12 billion in existing debt. The move combines Musk's two high-profile ventures, linking xAI's rapidly developing AI model Grok with X's vast user data and content distribution network. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk posted on X. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." See Also: Ex-OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever's AI Startup Valued At $30 Billion In Latest Funding Round: Report Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It's Important: According to Musk, the acquisition raised the valuation of the merged entity to $80 billion. The billionaire acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and rebranded it as X as part of a broader vision to transform it into an "everything app." Some details of the deal remain unclear, including investor approval and the structure of shareholder compensation. Musk's xAI, launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion at a $40 billion valuation and introduced Grok-3, a chatbot intended to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Apple's iPad Turns 15 Today: Here's A Throwback To When Steve Jobs Explained Called It The 'Third Category' After Phones And Notebooks Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Elon Musk's xAI acquires X in $45 billion all-stock deal

Musk said the merger will 'unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability with X's massive reach.' As of my knowledge cutoff in October 2023, there were no official announcements or reports indicating that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, merged with the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) in a $45 billion all-stock deal. Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 and rebranded it as X, reflecting his vision of creating an "everything app" that integrates services, including social media, payments, and more. Musk founded xAI in July 2023 with the goal of advancing artificial intelligence to understand the true nature of the universe. While there was interest in how xAI's AI capabilities might integrate with X's user base -- reported to be over 600 million active users -- no merger between the two companies was publicized. Musk was vocal about the potential for AI to enhance user experiences on social media platforms. He introduced features like the AI chatbot "Grok" to X, which allows users to engage in interactive conversations, reflecting his interest in combining AI technology with social networking. Despite these developments, a formal merger between xAI and X was not reported. The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.

Elon Musk fuses xAI with X to boost Grok

Musk's $33B merger of xAI and X signals a deeper AI-social media integration. Elon Musk's xAI has acquired X in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with his co-investors in the company formerly known as Twitter. The deal could also help xAI's ability to train its chatbot known as Grok. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk, who also heads automaker Tesla and SpaceX, wrote in a post on X: "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." He said the combination values "xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)." Representatives for X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remain unclear, such as how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or whether there would be regulatory scrutiny. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is also a close ally of US President Donald Trump and heads the Department of Government Efficiency. Saudi investment in AI Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns the investment company Kingdom Holding, said he had requested the development. He noted his companies are the second-largest investors in X and xAI. "After this deal, the value of our investments is expected to reach between $4-$5 billion... and the meter is running," he said in a post on X. Advertisement D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said the price tag for X of $45 billion when debt was included was not a coincidence. "It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022." Stay updated with the latest news! Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter Subscribe Now An investor in xAI who declined to be identified said they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the deal would drive deeper integration with Grok, the investor said. Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion, according to a media report. It competes with the likes of Microsoft-backed OpenAI as well as with Chinese startup DeepSeek. In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion bid with a consortium for OpenAI, which was rejected and he has sued to prevent the ChatGPT maker from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover. As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the largest in the world. xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February. The X platform could serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data. After buying Twitter, Musk gutted the company's workforce, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence in the Trump administration grows. The seven banks that extended $13 billion in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they were able to sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions. This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter. After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off." Separately, a US judge on Friday rejected a bid by Musk to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company. Sign up for the Business & Innovation Newsletter >>

Elon Musk's AI Company Acquires X in $45B Deal

Mr. Beast Plans Content Expansion as Top YouTube Creators Make Their Pitch to Advertisers X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, has been sold. Elon Musk said Friday that xAI, his artificial intelligence company, had acquired X in an all-stock transaction that values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45 billion, his original take-private price, minus $12 billion in debt). That's $1 billion more than the take-private price of $44 billion in 2022. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk wrote on X. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach. The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge. This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." Musk, of course, is also the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla, and the CEO of the space company (and burgeoning telecom giant) SpaceX. It is not immediately clear what the deal means for X's consumer-facing product, or for staff there like X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who is a veteran of the TV business. Yaccarino added in a post, "@X + @xAI The future could not be brighter."

Elon Musk's X and xAI 'Intertwined' in $45 Billion Deal | PYMNTS.com

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) company has acquired his social media platform in a multibillion-dollar deal. The deal, announced by Musk Friday (March 28), values his xAI at $80 billion and X, the social media platform once known as Twitter, at $33 billion ($45 billion minus $12 billion in debt). "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote in a post on the social media site. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." According to Musk, X now has 600 million active users. Data from those users has been used to train Grok, xAI's artificial intelligence model. And premium subscribers to X can access some of Grok's higher-end features. The news follows reports from last month that X was in talks to raise funds from investors at a $44 billion valuation, the same figure Musk paid for the platform in 2022. An investor in X told the Financial Times (FT) that getting back to the original purchase price has been a symbolic target for Musk. As that report noted, Musk loosened X's moderation policies after taking over. That prompted an advertiser exodus, driving down revenues. Fidelity Investments, the report points out, has slashed the company's value, saying in late September it was under $10 billion. However, many advertisers have returned, with Amazon recently increasing its spending as Musk forged stronger ties with the White House. Investors told the FT that X's finances seem to be improving, with the company having posted $1.2 billion in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization last year. That figure aligns more or less with the time just before Musk acquired Twitter, the report added, though one source said the number was subject to "significant adjustments." Meanwhile, xAI and chipmaker Nvidia recently joined the $30 billion AI Infrastructure Fund, an AI infrastructure project backed by BlackRock, Microsoft and Abu Dhabi AI investment group MGX, with the goal of raising up to $100 billion for the technology. "The global buildout of AI infrastructure will benefit every company and country that wants to achieve economic growth and unlock solutions to the world's greatest challenges," Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, said in the announcement. "AI factories built on Nvidia full-stack AI infrastructure will convert data into intelligence that will accelerate every industry and help society achieve unimaginable breakthroughs."

Elon Musk's AI company acquires his X social media platform in $33B Deal

March 28 (UPI) --Elon Musk on Friday announced he has sold his social media platform X to his artificial intelligence company, xAI, in an all-stock transaction valued at $33 billion plus $12 billion in debt. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022. He took the company private and rebranded it as X on July 23, 2023. X has approximately 611 million monthly active users globally. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk wrote on X. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach. The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge. This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." XAI is now valued at $80 billion. Both companies are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area. Musk founded XAI in March 2023 to use artificial intelligence to understand and generate human-like text. At the time he said the company will seek to "understand reality," according to the post on Twitter. X has around 1,500 employees, much lower than around 7,500 before Musk's acquisition. XAI had around 1,000 workers and products include Grok, Aurora and PromptlDE. In February, investors led by Musk have offered $97.4 billion to take over OpenAI, the artificial intelligence maker of ChatGPT. "It's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens," Musk said in a statement. In response, Open AI chief executive Sam Altman posted on Musk's social media platform X: "No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want." In 2015, Musk and Altman co-founded the startup OpenAI as a nonprofit company, but the relationship has chilled since Musk departed the firm in 2018. The ChatGPT tool debuted in November 2022. Musk, who is worth $347.7 billion, according to Forbes, is the largest shareholder of Tesla, the electric vehicle company and is CEO of SpaceX. In addition, he has been running the Department of Government Efficiency, which is tasked with cutting billions of dollars, including slashing workforces.

Musk's xAI startup swallows up X social network in surprise deal

By Kurt Wagner and Katie Roof, Bloomberg News The Tribune Content Agency Elon Musk said his xAI artificial intelligence startup has acquired the X platform, which he also controls, at a valuation of $33 billion, marking a surprise twist for the social network formerly known as Twitter. "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion," the billionaire wrote Friday in a post on X. The value of X is $45 billion when including $12 billion of debt, he said, describing the purchase as an all-stock transaction. The deal gives the new combined entity, called XAI Holdings, a value of more than $100 billion, not including the debt, according to a person familiar with the arrangement, who asked not to be identified because the terms weren't public. Morgan Stanley was the sole banker on the deal, representing both sides, other people said. For Musk, the deal streamlines his businesses and solidifies the relationship between the former Twitter and xAI, which has used information from the social network to hone its chatbot. The deal also offers a resolution to X's other backers following months of uncertainty over the state of their investment as Musk's changes led to an exodus of users and advertisers. "XAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk posted. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." Musk, the world's richest person, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022, a transaction that included debt. After taking control of the platform, he quickly moved to cut costs by slashing thousands of jobs, closing offices and renegotiating contracts. He also tried to make Twitter more aligned with what he calls "free speech absolutism" by eliminating certain content restrictions and allowing some banned accounts to return. But Musk also eroded a significant portion of the network's advertising business in the process. Marketers fled the site for fear that their promoted posts would appear alongside unsavory content from users. Even with an expected boost in sales for 2025, X's advertising business is still projected to be roughly half of what it was when Musk acquired the company. Over the past year, Musk has used the service to promote Grok, a chatbot developed by xAI that was trained, in part, with posts from X users. The startup is competing with AI firms such as OpenAI, which Musk co-founded before an acrimonious split with that company. "This helps integrate the system quite nicely," said Shweta Khajuria, a Wolfe Research analyst who views the deal as a positive for both of Musk's businesses. "This gives Grok a unique advantage" by providing access to vast amounts of training data while also allowing xAI to control - or even cut off - that data flow to other companies. Gene Munster, a managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management and an investor in both companies, wrote on X that the deal "makes a lot of sense" by giving xAI an in-house proprietary data set that other companies don't have access to. "Grok brings the brains. X brings the distribution," he posted. "OpenAI has the brains and brand distribution (e.g., Apple), but lacks X's proprietary data. Long-term edge: xAI." A spokesperson for X declined to comment, pointing Bloomberg to a post from X CEO Linda Yaccarino. "The future could not be brighter," she wrote. It's unclear whether this merger will affect her role as X's CEO. Musk has a long history of blending his various operations by sharing investors, technology and employees. His AI business, in addition to training on X user data, has also shared office space with X in the San Francisco Bay area. X also amassed a $6 billion stake in xAI as of January, which further intertwined the businesses. Investors in xAI have included Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity Investments and BlackRock Inc. Some of the AI startup's investors were also backers of X, including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh wrote Friday that xAI's acquisition of X could set a framework for deals involving other social networking companies. The deal "might be a sign that rivals including OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and Mistral will pursue deals to enhance their consumer reach and distribution," Singh wrote. "We believe smaller social-media players will actively seek alliances with providers of large language models, given the premium valuation for xAI at $80 billion, which is more than the combined market values of Snap, Pinterest and Reddit." For most of Musk's tenure as X's owner, the social networking company was believed to be valued well below the $44 billion that Musk paid in late 2022. Fidelity, for example, had marked down its equity stake in the company by more than 70% as recently as November. But X has seen a slight business resurgence since Musk became a top adviser to President Donald Trump, a relationship that has brought some advertisers back in an effort to curry favor with the two men. X raised close to $1 billion in new equity from investors, Bloomberg reported this month, in a deal that gave the company a valuation in line with when Musk took it private in 2022. Banks that had also been holding onto debt from Musk's Twitter purchase were also finally able to offload it earlier this year without taking a loss. At one point in 2022, that debt was marked at 60 cents on the dollar by some firms. X is on pace for its first year of advertising revenue growth since the Musk takeover, though some of those marketers are believed to be returning out of fear that Musk may sue them. The company is projected to generate $1.31 billion in US advertising sales in 2025, an increase of 17.5%, according to research firm Emarketer. Globally, X's ad sales are estimated to be $2.26 billion this year, up 16.5%.

Musk's xAI buys Musk's X social media platform for $33 bil.

A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and the X logo are seen in this photo taken Jan. 23. Reuters-Yonhap Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence firm has acquired Musk's X, the social media outfit formerly known as Twitter for $33 billion, marking the latest twist in the billionaire's rapid consolidation of power. The all-stock deal announced Friday combines two of Musk's multiple portfolio companies, which also include automaker Tesla and SpaceX, and potentially eases Musk's ability to train his AI model known as Grok. Musk announced the transaction in a post on X, saying: "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)." "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," he wrote. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." Neither X nor xAI spokespersons immediately responded to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remained unclear, such as how investors may be compensated, how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or the prospect of regulatory scrutiny. "This development feels surprising and somewhat unexpected," PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. "To a certain extent, it closes a chapter in the turbulent saga of X." "The choice of $45 billion is not a coincidence," said D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Gil Luria. "It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022" and he can share the value of the xAI business with Twitter co-investors. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has also consolidated his power in Washington, D.C. by overseeing the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. That has also put him in the position to potentially influence agencies that oversee his business dealings. An investor in xAI, and now in the combined entity, told Reuters they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. The investor declined to be named. Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the integration will drive deeper integration with Grok. This combination of pictures created, Oct. 10, 2023, shows, left, SpaceX, X and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Paris, June 16, 2023 and the new Twitter logo rebranded as X, pictured on a screen in Paris, July 24, 2023. AFP-Yonhap Open rivalry Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion, according to a media report. In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion bid with a consortium for the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which was rejected, with OpenAI saying that the startup was not for sale. Musk co-founded OpenAI with CEO Sam Altman in 2015. Musk competes directly with the popular OpenAI platform and has sued in federal court in California to prevent his rival from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge earlier this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover. The wide release of AI software has set off a flurry of investment and competition in Silicon Valley. In an effort to be more efficient, companies are seeking ways to integrate the software into nearly every part of their operations. As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the largest in the world. xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February, as it tries to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The X platform can serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data. Twitter freed Musk clinched a deal in 2022 to buy X, then Twitter, for $44 billion, ending its run as a public company since its 2013 initial public offering, declaring that "the bird is freed" once the acquisition closed. He gutted the company's workforce after the acquisition, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence grows in the Trump administration. The seven banks that extended $13 billion in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they could sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions. This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter. After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off." Separately, a U.S. judge rejected a bid by Musk, Friday, to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company. (Reuters)

Musk's xAI buys Musk's X social media platform for $33 bil.

A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and the X logo are seen in this illustration taken Jan. 23. Reuters-Yonhap Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence firm has acquired Musk's X, the social media outfit formerly known as Twitter for $33 billion, marking the latest twist in the billionaire's rapid consolidation of power. The all-stock deal announced on Friday combines two of Musk's multiple portfolio companies, which also include automaker Tesla and SpaceX, and potentially eases Musk's ability to train his AI model known as Grok. Musk announced the transaction in a post on X, saying: "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)." "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," he wrote. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." Neither X nor xAI spokespersons immediately responded to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remained unclear, such as how investors may be compensated, how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or the prospect of regulatory scrutiny. "This development feels surprising and somewhat unexpected," PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. "To a certain extent, it closes a chapter in the turbulent saga of X." "The choice of $45 billion is not a coincidence," said D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Gil Luria. "It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022" and he can share the value of the xAI business with Twitter co-investors. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has also consolidated his power in Washington, D.C. by overseeing the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. That has also put him in the position to potentially influence agencies that oversee his business dealings. An investor in xAI, and now in the combined entity, told Reuters they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. The investor declined to be named. Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the integration will drive deeper integration with Grok. This combination of pictures created, Oct. 10, 2023, shows, left, SpaceX, X and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Paris, June 16, 2023 and the new Twitter logo rebranded as X, pictured on a screen in Paris, July 24, 2023. AFP-Yonhap Open rivalry Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion, according to a media report. In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion bid with a consortium for the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which was rejected, with OpenAI saying that the startup was not for sale. Musk co-founded OpenAI with CEO Sam Altman in 2015. Musk competes directly with the popular OpenAI platform and has sued in federal court in California to prevent his rival from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge earlier this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover. The wide release of AI software has set off a flurry of investment and competition in Silicon Valley. In an effort to be more efficient, companies are seeking ways to integrate the software into nearly every part of their operations. As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the largest in the world. xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February, as it tries to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The X platform can serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data. Twitter freed Musk clinched a deal in 2022 to buy X, then Twitter, for $44 billion, ending its run as a public company since its 2013 initial public offering, declaring that "the bird is freed" once the acquisition closed. He gutted the company's workforce after the acquisition, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence grows in the Trump administration. The seven banks that extended $13 billion in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they could sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions. This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter. After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off." Separately, a U.S. judge on Friday rejected a bid by Musk to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company. (Reuters)

Musk's XAI deal offers unexpected win for X investors

Elon Musk just acquired the social network formerly known as Twitter for the second time in three years. Musk, the world's richest person, on March 28 used his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, to purchase his social media platform in an all-stock deal that values X at $33 billion, not including debt. The new joint entity, which will be called XAI Holdings, has a value of more than $100 billion, again excluding debt, Bloomberg News reported. The deal was a surprise, but not necessarily shocking: The two businesses have worked together closely since xAI's founding in 2023, including on data licensing and product distribution for xAI's chatbot, Grok. They also share many of the same investors, and in some cases, employees even share office space in Palo Alto, California. The transaction valued xAI at $80 billion, Musk said -- a jump from a valuation of about $50 billion in November, the last time the company raised money from investors. The $33 billion equity value of X in the deal is about the same as its valuation in a recently closed funding round, and also close to Musk's take-private price in 2022, which also counted $12 billion in debt. Musk's decision to merge the businesses is a win for X investors, who have endured more than two years of uncertainty since his takeover as advertisers and users abandoned the social network. The company has struggled to grow its advertising business or generate meaningful revenue from subscriptions. For most of that time, investor Fidelity had marked down its equity stake in X between 60% and 70%. The combination with xAI means X investors now own shares in a nascent artificial intelligence startup with much more perceived upside. "XAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk posted on X in announcing the transaction. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." But the deal also raises a number of questions, including the most basic one: Was this deal actually necessary? Here are some of the most pressing unknowns about the new arrangement. Posts from Musk and other X or xAI shareholders this week praised the merger, citing the ways both companies will help one another. People have mostly focused on the proprietary dataset that xAI will have via X and its billions of user posts. It also gives xAI total control over that dataset and means the company can refuse to license that data to any other artificial intelligence competitors. X, meanwhile, can help xAI distribute its Grok chatbot and other products to millions of consumers. The problem with this logic, though, is that all these purported benefits were seemingly already in place. XAI has been using the social network's data to train Grok for well over a year, and Musk has been pitching Grok to users on X -- and selling advanced versions of the product to X users via its premium subscription. Given Musk's role running both companies, there should have been no reason to worry any of those benefits were in jeopardy, or that X would suddenly start working with an xAI competitor. Musk says the deal values X at $33 billion, not including $12 billion in debt. He also said it values xAI at $80 billion. This is a deal in which Musk is buying one of his private companies with another one of his private companies, both of which were represented by the same bank, Morgan Stanley. This unique arrangement means that Musk could theoretically assign any value he wants to X and xAI, so long as none of the investors revolted. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that xAI purchased X for roughly the same amount Musk paid for it in October 2022, which means that X investors are simply shifting their stakes from one company to another. It's also interesting that xAI's most recent valuation before the deal was about $50 billion, but now the company is valued at $80 billion even though there was no new financing involved in the transaction, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Musk, it seems, increased the value as part of the acquisition. A spokesperson for X declined to comment on details of the deal when it was announced. One of the deal's biggest cheerleaders last week was X Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino, who posted, "the future could not be brighter." It's less clear what the merger means for her future atop the company. Musk didn't announce any kind of corporate structure for XAI Holdings, and it's not known who will run the new joint entity, though Musk himself seems like the most likely choice. It's possible Yaccarino stays on to continue running X as a business unit within the new company, but mergers are often messy and can require significant role changes. We'll have to wait and see how much more tightly Musk merges the operations of X and xAI to better understand how things will be run. It's not immediately known how this acquisition will impact X, if at all, in part because the two businesses have long been deeply intertwined. Grok is already available on X, for example, and users can pay extra for premium features associated with the AI chatbot. It seems likely there will be even more Grok integration into X as time goes on, including tools like photo editing or a voice assistant. Still, this was already likely to happen given the direction Musk was headed with the two businesses. AI companies have been thirsty for any and all proprietary data sets as they train their AI systems and look for ways to differentiate their chatbots from rivals. Reddit Inc., for example, has licensed its trove of user content to Alphabet Inc.'s Google and makes hundreds of millions of dollars per year on AI licensing. It's possible that other AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity AI will look into acquiring other social networks to secure their own unique datasets, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh. Perplexity did propose a merger with TikTok US as a solution to keeping the ByteDance Ltd.-owned service in America. "We believe smaller social-media players will actively seek alliances with providers of large language models, given the premium valuation for xAI at $80 billion, which is more than the combined market values of Snap, Pinterest and Reddit," Singh wrote.

Elon Musk's xAI buys social media platform X for $45B: 'Futures are...

Elon Musk said Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion, including debt. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said in a post on X, adding that the combined company would be valued at $80 billion. The billionaire's AI startup, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, sources have told Reuters.

Elon Musk's xAI acquires X, creating an $80 billion powerhouse By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Elon Musk's AI firm xAI announced the acquisition of his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in a significant all-stock deal. The transaction values X at $33 billion, excluding X's $12 billion debt, and the combined company at $80 billion. In 2022, Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion. This move marks a major step for xAI, which, since its inception two years ago, has quickly risen to prominence as one of the top AI labs globally. xAI has been recognized for its rapid development of AI models and construction of data centers, both in terms of speed and scale. Meanwhile, X has established itself as a leading digital platform, boasting over 600 million active users who rely on it as a real-time source of information. Over the past two years, X has undergone a transformation, emerging as an exceptionally efficient company poised for scalable growth. The merger of xAI and X is poised to create a powerhouse in the tech industry. Musk emphasized that the futures of both companies are deeply connected. With the official consolidation of their resources, including data, models, computing power, distribution networks, and talent, the combined entity is expected to leverage xAI's cutting-edge AI expertise alongside X's extensive user base. Musk stated that this integration is set to deliver smarter and more impactful experiences to billions of people worldwide. He stressed that the combined company would remain committed to its fundamental mission of pursuing truth and fostering the advancement of knowledge. The goal is to create a platform that not only mirrors the world but also actively contributes to human progress. In his announcement, Musk, also CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), expressed gratitude for the unwavering commitment of the teams at both xAI and X, which has been instrumental in reaching this milestone. He concluded by thanking all partners and supporters for their ongoing collaboration, signaling optimism for the future following this landmark acquisition.

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for 33 billion dollars in all-stock deal | BreakingNews.ie

Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a 33 billion dollar (£25.5 billion) all-stock deal, the billionaire announced. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Mr Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach". He said the deal values xAI at 80 billion dollars (£61.8 billion) and X at 33 billion dollars. Mr Musk, who serves as chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an adviser to President Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for 44 billion dollars (£34 billion) in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Mr Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."

Elon Musk has sold X, but there's a catch - Softonic

In a surprise announcement, Elon Musk revealed he has sold social media platform X to his own AI company, xAI, in an all-stock deal valued at $33 billion. While the move may appear to be a transfer of ownership, the reality suggests something more strategic than it seems. The deal, which keeps both companies under Musk's control, is being marketed as a way to merge xAI's advanced technology with X's enormous user base. Musk emphasized that this integration will "unlock immense potential," allowing the platforms to share data, computing power, models, and talent. The billionaire said this would lead to "smarter, more meaningful experiences" while staying committed to the mission of advancing truth and knowledge. Musk originally purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, dismantling its team and reshaping its policies under the new name X. Just a year later, he launched xAI, aiming to compete with other major players in the AI space. Now, by combining the two, Musk positions xAI as a key force in AI development while using X as a massive training groundfor data and user interaction. In practice, not much -- xAI was already training its models on public X data, and premium X users had early access to Grok, the company's AI chatbot. With the sale, this synergy is now official, but users may not see immediate changes in how the platform works. Ultimately, this appears less like a sale and more like Musk rearranging his empire, consolidating power while keeping full control.

Musk's xAI buys social media platform X for $45 billion

* Combined company valued at $80 billion, Musk announces * xAI raised $6 billion at $40 billion valuation, sources say March 28 (Reuters) - Elon Musk said on Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion, including debt. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said in a post on X, adding that the combined company would be valued at $80 billion. The billionaire's AI startup, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, sources have told Reuters. (Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Sandra Maler)

Elon Musk's xAI buys his X social media platform for $33B - VnExpress International

The all-stock deal announced on Friday combines two of Musk's multiple portfolio companies, which also include automaker Tesla and SpaceX, and potentially eases Musk's ability to train his AI model known as Grok. Musk announced the transaction in a post on X saying: "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)." "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," he wrote. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." Neither X nor xAI spokespersons immediately responded to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remained unclear, such as how investors may be compensated, how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or the prospect of regulatory scrutiny. "This development feels surprising and somewhat unexpected," PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. "To a certain extent, it closes a chapter in the turbulent saga of X." "The choice of $45 billion is not a coincidence," said D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Gil Luria. "It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022" and he can share the value of the xAI business with Twitter co-investors. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has also consolidated his power in Washington, D.C. by overseeing the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. That has also put him in the position to potentially influence agencies that oversee his business dealings. An investor in xAI, and now in the combined entity, told Reuters they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. The investor declined to be named. Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the integration will drive deeper integration with Grok. Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion, according to a media report. In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion bid with a consortium for the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which was rejected, with OpenAI saying that the startup was not for sale. Musk co-founded OpenAI with CEO Sam Altman in 2015. Musk competes directly with the popular OpenAI platform and has sued in federal court in California to prevent his rival from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge earlier this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover. The wide release of AI software has set off a flurry of investment and competition in Silicon Valley. In an effort to be more efficient, companies are seeking ways to integrate the software into nearly every part of their operations. As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the largest in the world. xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February, as it tries to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The X platform can serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data. Musk clinched a deal in 2022 to buy X, then Twitter, for $44 billion, ending its run as a public company since its 2013 initial public offering, declaring that "the bird is freed" once the acquisition closed. He gutted the company's workforce after the acquisition, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence grows in the Trump administration. The seven banks that extended $13 billion in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they could sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions. This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter. After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off." Separately, a U.S. judge on Friday rejected a bid by Musk to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company.

Elon Musk says xAI startup buying X platform

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Elon Musk said his artificial intelligence startup xAI is buying his social networking platform X in a deal valuing the company once known as Twitter at USD33 billion. "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk said in a post on his social network. X has more than 600 million users, and its future is "intertwined" with that of xAI, launched two years ago, according to Musk. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," Musk said of combining the two companies. "This will allow us to build a platform that doesn't just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress." The companies are being combined in an all-stock deal that values xAI at USD80 billion and X at USD33 billion, factoring in the social network's USD12 billion debt. Musk bought Twitter for USD44 billion in late 2022 in a transaction that included debt and launched xAI the following year, spending billions of dollars on high-end Nvidia chips for the venture. xAI in February released the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China's DeepSeek. Musk has promoted Grok 3 as "scary smart," with 10 times the computational resources of its predecessor that was released in August last year. Grok 3 is also going up against OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT - pitting Musk against collaborator-turned-arch rival Sam Altman. Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015. Created as a counterweight to Google's dominance in artificial intelligence, the project got initial funding from Musk. Musk left three years later, and then in 2022 OpenAI's release of ChatGPT created a global technology sensation - which made Altman a tech world star. Their relationship has become increasingly toxic and litigious ever since. X's billionaire owner, the world's richest person, is a major financial backer of United States President Donald Trump and heads a Department of Government Efficiency that has been slashing the ranks of government employees. Industry analysts at Emarketer this week forecast that ad revenue at X will grow this year as brands fear retaliation by politically connected Musk if they don't spend on the platform. "Many advertisers may view spending on X as a cost of doing business in order to mitigate potential legal or financial repercussions," said Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI

AP - Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a USD33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at USD80 billion and X at USD33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to President Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for USD44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."

Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for USD33 billion in all-stock deal

AP - Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a USD33 billion all-stock deal, the billionaire announced on Friday. Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public. Musk said in a post on X that the move will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He said the deal values xAI at USD80 billion and X at USD33 billion. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as an advisor to President Donald Trump, bought the site then called Twitter for USD44 billion in 2022, gutted its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation and user verification and renamed it X. He launched xAI a year later. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach," Musk wrote on X. "The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."