xAI and Telegram Forge $300M Partnership to Integrate Grok AI into Messaging Platform

xAI to invest $300M in Telegram, integrate Grok into app | TechCrunch

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Wednesday said Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, is investing $300 million worth of cash and equity in the chat app. As part of the deal, xAI's chatbot, Grok, will be distributed via Telegram and integrated into apps available on Telegram's platform. Durov said Telegram will earn 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions that are purchased through the app. Earlier this year, xAI made the Grok chatbot available to Telegram's premium users. The new partnership sounds like Grok might now be available to all users. A video posted by Durov on X suggested that Grok can be pinned on top of chats within the app, and users can also ask questions to Grok from the search bar. Notably, Meta has also integrated Meta AI into the search bar for Instagram and WhatsApp. The video also shows that you will be able to use Grok for writing suggestions, summarizing chats, links and documents, and creating stickers. Grok will supposedly also help answer questions for businesses and assist with moderation.

xAI to pay Telegram $300M to integrate Grok into the chat app | TechCrunch

Telegram has struck a partnership with Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, to distribute the latter's chatbot, Grok, via Telegram and integrate it into apps available on the chat app's platform for one year. xAI will pay $300 million in cash and equity to the chat app as part of the deal, Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov said on Tuesday. Durov said Telegram will also earn 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions purchased through the app. Earlier this year, xAI made the Grok chatbot available to Telegram's premium users. It seems Grok might now be made available to all users. A video posted by Durov on X suggested that Grok can be pinned on top of chats within the app, and users can also ask questions to Grok from the search bar. Notably, Meta has also integrated Meta AI into the search bar on Instagram and WhatsApp. The video also shows that you will be able to use Grok for writing suggestions, summarizing chats, links and documents, and creating stickers. Grok will supposedly also help answer questions for businesses and assist with moderation.

Elon Musk's Grok AI Is Coming to Your Telegram Chats

Popular messaging app Telegram will soon get an artificial intelligence upgrade as part of a partnership with Elon Musk's xAI to bring Grok to your conversations. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced the partnership on Musk's social media platform X saying, "This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market." A video alongside the announcement shows many uses for the AI inside Telegram, including Grok editing text before sending a message, chat summaries for when you've got multiple messages to catch up on, and document breakdowns for longer files you download. Grok will also be able to do automatic group chat moderation, fact checking within Channels, image generation for stickers and avatars, and more. Durov says the year-long deal will see Telegram earn $300 million in cash and equity in exchange for Grok becoming the default AI on Telegram. The app will also share 50% of revenue for subscriptions to Grok sold through the app. Telegram's privacy policy is a big reason why many use the messaging app. The company says one of its key priorities is "protecting your private conversations from snooping third parties," but Telegram says some data will now be shared with xAI when Grok is in use. In response to a message about concerns about what user data will be shared with xAI, Durov said that privacy remains "paramount." Durov added, "xAI will only access data that Telegram users explicitly share with Grok through direct interactions. That's expected -- you can't message anyone (including a chatbot) without sharing what you write." In the teaser video, Grok is shown working across many different elements within the Telegram app. It's unclear if Durov's statement refers to only data shared within direct messages with Grok itself, or whether anything shared in a conversation where Grok is active will be shared with xAI. For example, Grok is going to be used to monitor Channels for moderation, so will those interactions will be shared with xAI? Some in the comments questioned whether this goes against Telegram's longstanding "no ads, no subscription fees, forever" promise. The app responded that it's evolved from "a much simpler platform without channels, mini apps, or AI integrations" over the years, but insisted that "foundational features will never be locked behind a Premium subscription." Telegram says its "optional Premium features...are too resource-hungry to offer to everyone for free. This hasn't stopped Telegram from developing tons of free features at the same time."

Elon Musk's xAI pays Telegram $300M to integrate Grok

Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Wednesday announced that the Dubai-based messaging service will make unspecified Grok models from Elon Musk's xAI available to users. "This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market. @elonmusk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAI's @grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps," Durov wrote in a post on Musk's social media service. "This also strengthens Telegram's financial position: we will receive $300M in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50 percent of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram." Telegram, according to a 2024 report from The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), is commonly used by Russian authorities and proxies for influence operations. Community of Democracies, an intergovernmental coalition of states, published a related report in January that explores the use of Telegram and also of Musk's X for foreign information manipulation and interference. Durov followed his announcement by offering reassurance about privacy. "User privacy is paramount," he said. "To be clear, xAI will only access data that Telegram users explicitly share with Grok through direct interactions. That's expected -- you can't message anyone (including a chatbot) without sharing what you write." Telegram's privacy commitment has been the focus of some debate. Though Telegram offers optional encryption, Matthew Green, cryptographer and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, observed last year that it's not encrypted end-to-end by default. The biz also said it would start sharing certain information like IP addresses with authorities last September, shortly after Durov's arrest in France. Durov, a citizen of Russia, France, and the United Arab Emirates, was arrested last August in France by local authorities, in conjunction with government allegations [PDF] that Telegram has failed to take sufficient action to halt drug trafficking, cyber bullying, organized crime, and distribution of child sexual abuse material on its platform, among other claims. The messaging biz billionaire was released on bail for €5 million shortly after his arrest. He is said to be in Paris and to be required to report regularly to the police while he awaits trial, which isn't expected to happen this year. Last week, Durov was denied the right to travel from France to the US for investment negotiations. Telegram did not immediately respond to a request to say whether those negotiations involved xAI. xAI's Grok made news earlier this month when it started spouting conspiracy theories about White genocide in South Africa and questioned the Holocaust death toll. The later gaffe at least has been attributed to a programming error that has since been corrected. Unmoved by the controversy, Microsoft last week added the Grok 3 family to the list of models available through its Azure cloud platform. The latest Grok model (Grok-3-Preview-02-24) scores well on the HuggingFace leaderboard, which lets users vote on how effective each model is at certain tasks. It currently sits in eighth place overall. ®

A Musk-Telegram AI Pact Sets the Stage for More Drama

It's hard to find a pair of tech billionaires more alike than Elon Musk and Pavel Durov. Both are staunch libertarians who run large social media platforms with minimal content moderation, and both champion themselves as defenders of free speech. Both are also pro-natalists, with Durov claiming to have fathered more than 100 biological children through sperm donation. It's an ideological match made in heaven -- and perhaps in business too. Durov this week announced a one-year partnership with Musk's xAI, in which the latter artificial intelligence lab would pay Telegram $300 million in cash and equity to integrate its Grok chatbot into the messaging app. In essence, Telegram gets whizzy new AI features while Grok gets distribution on a platform with roughly 1 billion users, double the number of people on X. But there are a couple of snags.

Telegram, Musk's xAI partner to distribute Grok to messaging app's users

May 28 (Reuters) - Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said on Wednesday its messaging app and Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI have agreed to a partnership to distribute Grok to its more than billion users. Telegram will receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI and 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram, he said in a post on X. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Musk's xAI signs Telegram tie-up as billionaire 'bromance' blooms

Elon Musk has signed a $300mn deal with Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, to distribute xAI's Grok chatbot to the messaging app's 1bn users, in a sign of blossoming partnership between the two mercurial billionaires. As part of a one-year deal, Telegram will receive $300mn in cash and equity from xAI, as well as half of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via the messaging app, Durov wrote on X and Telegram on Wednesday. Musk and Durov met in Paris recently ahead of the deal's announcement, according to several people familiar with the matter, as their tech "bromance" grows. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive shares with the Russian-born Telegram boss a passion for free expression and opposition to what they see as government censorship. xAI's Telegram tie-up marks the first big expansion for the artificial intelligence group into a new social media service beyond Musk's X platform. It follows last week's new alliance with Microsoft, which is making xAI available through its Azure cloud computing platform. xAI bought X for $45bn in March. Telegram will own a stake in xAI as part of the two companies' agreement. The partnership will promote and integrate Musk's chatbot in several ways inside the Telegram app, exposing both platforms to new audiences and valuable data, as social media groups including Mark Zuckerberg's Meta pour investment into the AI race. Last week, the Financial Times reported that Telegram was launching a bond offering of about $1.5bn in order to buy back existing debt. According to a presentation shared with investors and seen by the FT, the company made $1.4bn revenues in 2024, up from $343mn a year earlier, and made its first annual profit of $540mn. The rapid growth comes despite Durov being detained by French authorities last year. He was placed under formal investigation over Telegram's alleged failure to address criminality including child abuse and terrorism on its platform. While the investigation continues, judges have ordered him to stay in France, although they have allowed him to go on business trips to Dubai. Durov and Musk are aligned by their stances on free speech. In recent weeks, Durov has publicly criticised what he claims were French efforts to influence presidential elections in Romania where a far-right candidate was polling strongly. He said he had rejected a request by Nicolas Lerner, head of the French intelligence service, to close down channels of "conservative voices" in Romania -- something the French agency flatly denied. Durov again criticised France while speaking remotely at the Oslo Freedom Forum after judges refused to let him travel there. He said authorities asked Telegram to shut down a channel of "far-left protesters and demonstrators" but he refused because it "seemed completely legitimate, and we refused to comply". He said he had done so "despite the obvious personal risks I'm taking with these decisions." The French interior minister did not respond to a request for comment. Durov's approach appears to borrow from the playbook of Musk, a self-declared free speech absolutist, who has increasingly used X to accuse certain foreign leaders of alleged censorship, challenging so-called "takedown" requests in countries including Brazil, India and Australia. He has also repeatedly accused both the EU and UK governments of censorship, and backed the far-right AfD party in Germany. However, critics argue that Musk is selective in the challenges he takes up. On Sunday, the X owner shared Durov's post about the French intelligence request on Romania to his 220mn followers writing: "Wow."

Elon Musk's xAI is paying Telegram $300 million to adopt Grok

The one-year deal brings the chatbot to the messaging platform. Elon Musk's xAI is paying the messaging platform Telegram a cool $300 million to . The terms of the deal are extremely favorable to Telegram, as the $300 million only covers a single year and xAI will evenly split any subscription sales to Grok Premium and Premium+ with the messaging platform. Telegram will be paid in both cash and equity. This will introduce Grok to gobs of new people, as Telegram boasts over one billion monthly users. X, on the other hand, handles half that amount. X leverages public posts from users to train Grok, , and it remains to be seen if the deal includes language to do the same thing with Telegram. The platform includes a feature called Channels that's sort of like a social media network, which could house data that's ripe for the picking. Engadget reached out to Telegram to ask about Grok and training data and will update this post if we hear back. Both companies have remained mum on this question to other publications, . It's worth noting that AI companies

Elon Musk's xAI partners with messaging app Telegram in $300 million Grok deal

At Trump's $148 million meme coin dinner, 'the food sucked' and security was lax, attendee says Telegram passed 1 billion monthly users in 2025, and the company is set to raise at least $1.5 billion in a bond issue on Wednesday, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The messaging platform is popular in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where it is used by government officials and the military. Durov is facing an investigation in France, where he is a citizen, for allegedly allowing criminal activity including drug trafficking, fraud and child pornography on Telegram. Following his arrest in August, Durov has been barred from leaving France without authorization. Telegram said in a previous statement posted on Musk's social media platform X that it abides by EU laws, and that Durov has "nothing to hide." The Russian-born billionaire left Russia in 2014, according to Telegram's website, and is also a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. In March, Musk announced xAI merged with X in a deal that values the AI company at $80 billion and the social media company at $33 billion.

Telegram announces partnership with Musk's xAI

Mr Durov said the arrangement - which is due to last a year - would see his company receive $300m (£223m) in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram. It follows Meta incorporating an AI service into its messaging service, WhatsApp - a development it was forced to defend after grumbling from users. This tie-up brings together two of the most colourful and sometimes controversial figures in tech. Mr Durov was arrested in France in August 2024, after being accused of failing to properly moderate his app to reduce criminality. Critics had branded the platform the "dark web in your pocket" because of what they said was the amount of criminal activity being discussed on the platform. However Mr Durov has denied failing to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content and fraud. The platform has also rejected accusations that its moderation policies are not sufficiently robust. Mr Musk has an incredibly broad range of tech interests, ranging from brain implant start-up Neuralink to his rocket manufacturing firm, SpaceX. He also has a prominent role in the administration of US President Donald Trump, and campaigned heavily to get him elected - something that analysts say is contributing to slumping sales at his best known firm, electric car maker Tesla. The world's richest man has also invested heavily in AI. He was a co-founder of the world's best known AI firm, OpenAI, the company which makes ChatGPT. He subsequently left and became involved in a long-running row with OpenAI's boss, Sam Altman, over its future direction. Earlier this year, Mr Musk spearheaded a failed attempt to buy it. He has also been seeking to develop xAI as a rival to OpenAI and other industry leaders. In March, he announced it had purchased X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in a deal which valued xAI at $80bn (£61.8bn).

Telegram's 1-year marriage to Grok AI includes a $300MM dowry

I tried FUTO Keyboard, Gboard and Swiftkey for a month and here's how it went Summary Telegram secures $300 million plus 50% of on-platform xAI subscription sales in exchange for implementing Grok for a year. The Grok LLM chatbot could add a host of AI-powered functions like smart composition and automated chat moderation. Pavel Durov, CEO, asserts "user privacy is paramount" and xAI will only access data explicitly shared with Grok. When a piece of popular software wants to incorporate a cutting-edge third-party tool, it typically costs the software's owner a lot of money. But up is down, left is right, and cats are running away with dogs in today's VC-backed, AI-packed world. The latest such evidence? Telegram's CEO just announced a one-year deal to integrate xAI's Grok LLM interface within the widely acclaimed messaging app. And not only is the Dubai-based, social media-esque platform not spending a cent, it's slated to receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold through Telegram. In exchange, the up-and-coming chatbot gets put in front of Telegram's 1-billion-and-counting monthly active users, and could come away with countless new teachable interactions. Related 10 Telegram tips for safe and secure chats Minimize security risks and increase your privacy on Telegram Posts A deal where everybody wins Just when you thought Telegram couldn't add any more features Source: Catherine Vitechenko / Android Police Telegram has expanded in so many ways over the years that it clearly resembles a lightweight version of social media. Grok has a little more attitude than its LLM competitors, which could make it a great companion to the versatile messaging platform. A brief preview video shared by the CEO shows in-depth implementations that let Telegram users leverage Grok's digital smarts at nearly every turn. And it's more than just a shoehorned-in chatbot portal. The new partnership gives users access to AI-powered composition, summarization, chat moderation, and other functions that might not mean so much if Telegram weren't already packed with such a wide offering of in-demand features. Arguably the most impressive part is the relative king's ransom Durov and company managed to secure. The Grok partnership adds $300 million to the company's coffers and comes a day after insiders tipped off Telegram's $1.5 billion in bond issuance funding. For the deal's duration, Telegram will also skim half the revenue off the top of all xAI subscriptions sold on the platform. So what's the catch? Modified from source: Telegram / Upsplash Naturally, one of the first questions social media asked was, "What about privacy?" That's a good question, considering how hard Telegram works to uphold its secure, private reputation. Durov didn't hedge at all, offering concerned users the following: User privacy is paramount. To be clear, xAI will only access data that Telegram users explicitly share with Grok through direct interactions. That's expected -- you can't message anyone (including a chatbot) without sharing what you write. -- Pavel Durov on X/Twitter There's no official word on exactly how xAI will use the information users share with Grok through Telegram. Like other AI and LLM implementations, Grok is always in search of fresh, high-quality data. Grok competitors like ChatGPT and Gemini support free access partly by reserving some unpaid interactions for potential training purposes down the line, and xAI's model could follow a similar path. At the very least, we know that advanced, natural-language control of your Telegram messages and group chats is on its way, and periodic nudging to consider an xAI subscription might be, too. Related Grok AI thinks I tweet like a middle-aged man, and I'm starting to believe it Maybe I am middle-aged mentally Posts

Telegram gets some AI integration but you may not love the source

Telegram messages will have a sarcastic extra presence now, thanks to a deal made by the messaging app to bring xAI's Grok chatbot to its platform. xAI's flagship chatbot is known for a snarkier - and occasionally unhinged - approach to user interactions. That attitude will now be available to all users, having previously been limited to some premium Telegram users. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov shared a video on X showing how users will be able to pin Grok to the top of chats, summon it from the search bar, and use it to do all sorts of activities; from writing messages and summarizing group chats to creating stickers, answering trivia, and even serving as a moderator in community groups. Elon Musk's AI company signed a deal with Telegram to embed Grok as a feature throughout the platform, paying $300 million for the privilege. Telegram is also getting 50% of the revenue from any Grok subscriptions purchased through the app, which could turn this into one of the most lucrative crossovers in chatbot history. If this all sounds vaguely familiar, that's because it sounds a lot like Meta's strategy for Meta AI. The AI assistant has become part of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in a similar fashion to Grok in Telegram. Grok serves as Telegram's answer to Meta AI, encouraging people to stay on the platform rather than look elsewhere for help from an AI source. The $300 million being paid by xAI may sound over-the-top, but it makes sense when you consider what xAI gets out of it. Telegram is one of the most-used messaging apps on the planet. Getting even a fraction of the more than 900 million monthly active Telegram users to try Grok would be a massive boon for the chatbot. And that's not even considering the value of the data Grok will get from Telegram users. It's a massive pool of real-time interaction data, which could fuel Grok's development in ways xAI is eager to pursue. Since the real power of AI data comes from how real people interact, $300 million might end up being a bargain. Grok can learn a lot from what hundreds of millions of people ask, how they phrase things, and what tone they use, depending on whether they're happy, mad, flirty, or confused. xAI now has a front-row seat to that data firehose. Naturally, the Grok integration will raise a few eyebrows when questions of privacy, data ownership, and how our data is used are brought up. Neither xAI nor Telegram has provided much detail about how Grok will handle user data or whether any of that data will be used to further train the model, which one must assume will be the case. Grok may become the helpful assistant it's pitched as, or it could be another feature that people Google how to turn off, just like Meta AI. There's also the question of moderation. Durov demonstrated how Grok might help clean up spammy group chats, but Grok's tone would likely clash with a Telegram group discussing sensitive issues, and things could go very wrong if Grok misinterprets the context in a heated argument.

Telegram Partners With xAI in a $300 Million Deal | AIM

Tesla's Elon Musk has made a major move with xAI by securing a $300 million investment to strengthen its position in the AI race. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made a significant move with his AI venture, xAI, by securing a $300 million investment from Telegram's messaging platform. This partnership will allow for the integration of xAI's chatbot, Grok, into Telegram's ecosystem, which could strengthen xAI's position in the rapidly changing AI ecosystem. Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced the collaboration on the social media platform X, saying the two companies have agreed on a one-year partnership. The partnership will introduce xAI's Grok to Telegram's billion+ users and integrate across all apps. Telegram will receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, along with 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions bought via Telegram. As reported by Reuters, AI companies are encountering growing difficulties in obtaining quality data due to the depletion of many open-source repositories. This is pushing firms like Meta to leverage public interactions with AI to train their models. The recent partnership with Telegram could offer xAI a new source of user engagement that might be beneficial for improving its AI systems. Although X, the social media platform also owned by Musk, utilises public posts to train its AI models, it is still uncertain if a similar method will be applied to Telegram data, according to Mint. Musk called Grok 3 the smallest AI on earth and announced its release in February 2025. AIM reported previously that it was trained on 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs and boasts almost ten times more computing power than its predecessor. Along with the launch of Grok 3, xAI had been negotiating to secure $10 billion in financing. Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Valor Equity Partners will be involved in this funding round, elevating xAI's valuation to $75 billion.

Elon Musk's xAI inks $300M deal with Telegram for Grok integration

Accessible via the search bar on Telegram, xAI's Grok will offer threaded chats, smart text editing, chat summaries, document digests, inbox agents, group chat moderation and more. Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has partnered with Telegram to integrate its AI chatbot Grok across the messaging platform, according to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. Telegram and xAI have agreed to a one-year partnership to distribute Grok to a billion Telegram users and integrate it into its apps, Durov announced on X on May 28. As part of the agreement, Telegram will receive $300 million in cash and equity from Musk's AI company, in addition to 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram, the CEO noted. "Together, we win," Durov said in the statement on X. According to a promo video accompanying Durov's announcement, the partnership is expected to bring a wide rollout of Grok features within the messenger. Accessible via the search bar on Telegram, Grok will offer threaded chats, smart text editing, chat summaries, document digests, inbox agents, group chat moderation and more. Neither xAI nor Grok had confirmed the partnership independently at the time of publication. Related: Durov blocked from attending Oslo Freedom Forum -- Human Rights Foundation Some commentators speculate that Musk will soon create his own Telegram channel following the partnership. The news comes amid several Telegram-related stories published on May 28, including BlackRock's reported participation in the messenger's $1.5 billion bond sale and ex-Visa crypto executive Nikola Plecas joining the TON Foundation as its new vice president of payments. Telegram works closely with the TON Foundation, picking Toncoin (TON) as the messenger's only accepted cryptocurrency for app services in January. Toncoin has rallied on the news, seeing a 20% spike within a few hours. According to data from CoinGecko, TON is trading at $3.60 and is currently the 19th largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $8.9 billion.

Elon Musk's xAI is paying Telegram to inject Grok into its billion+ userbase

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram has announced xAI will be paying the social messaging platform $300 million a year for Grok adoption. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you. Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Telegram, has announced that Elon Musk's xAI is paying the messaging platform $300 million for it to adopt Grok, the AI-powered chatbot created by xAI. Durov explained in a recent X post the details of the deal, which when reading appear to be extremely in the favor of Telegram, as the $300 million the social messaging platform is getting paid is only for a year-long partnership, but it also includes other benefits such as 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram. This means that if any users sign up for Grok Premium or Premium+ subscriptions through Telegram, Durov's social messaging platform will take 50% of that sale, presumably for the subscription duration, or until the partnership is ended. Telegram is home to more than 1 billion monthly users, which is about double the size of X. Perhaps X thinks of this deal as marketing expenditure to get Grok into many more hands, potentially attracting them to the subscription service. However, there could be another motive. 1 billion users = a lot of user data, and Grok is currently training on data on X. It remains to be seen if the deal between the xAI and Telegram includes Grok being able to train on Telegram user data. However, having an AI gobbling up user data runs contrary to the founding ethos of the Telegram app, which Durov created alongside his brother and released in 2013 with the goal of providing a communications tool that no government, corporation, or advertising algorithm could bend to its will. The whole point of Telegram is messages that are encrypted from end-to-end, meaning Telegram isn't even able to read the contents of the messages. Durov recently replied to a user mentioning user data, where he said that xAI will only access data Telegram users explicitly share with Grok through direct interactions, such as the messages Telegram users send to the chatbot.

Grok Chatbot Coming Telegram After App Signs $300 Million xAI Deal

The deal could provide xAI with valuable data xAI will use the data to train and develop its AI models. Telegram chief Pavel Durov has confirmed the deal Elon Musk's AI startup xAI will pay Telegram $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,564 crore) to deploy its Grok chatbot on the messaging app, aiming to tap the platform's more than one billion users and sharpen its competitive edge in the booming artificial intelligence market. Under the one-year deal, xAI will also give Telegram half of any subscription sales made through the messaging app, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said in a post on X earlier on Wednesday, adding that the $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,564 crore) will be paid in cash and stock. Durov said xAI will only access data that Telegram users explicitly share with Grok through direct interactions. Musk said no deal has been signed in a reply to the post on X, to which Durov said the parties have agreed in principle but formalities were pending. The deal could provide xAI, which acquired X earlier this year, with valuable data to train and develop its AI models. With many open-source repositories exhausted, AI companies face increasing challenges in sourcing quality data, pushing firms such as Meta Platforms to utilise public interactions with AI for model training. According to its privacy policy, X uses public posts from users to train its AI models. It was not immediately clear if xAI would utilize data from Telegram similarly. XAI, which has entered several tie-ups this year to bolster its position in both AI infrastructure and financial services, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. © Thomson Reuters 2025

Elon Musk-Telegram AI pact sets the stage for more drama

Musk may not be in the best of moods. With the true impact of his Department of Government Efficiency still unclear, he left his post at the White House this week. Now he's turning back to a business empire in flux, having leaned on AI to balance his books. The generative AI boom has pushed the value of two-year-old xAI to $80 billion, and Musk recently merged that company and X (formerly known as Twitter and worth far less) under a single entity, xAI Holdings.It's hard to find a pair of tech billionaires more alike than Elon Musk and Pavel Durov. Both are staunch libertarians who run large social media platforms with minimal content moderation, and both champion themselves as defenders of free speech. Both are also pro-natalists, with Durov claiming to have fathered more than 100 biological children through sperm donation. It's an ideological match made in heaven -- and perhaps in business too. Durov this week announced a one-year partnership with Musk's xAI, in which the latter artificial intelligence lab would pay Telegram $300 million in cash and equity to integrate its Grok chatbot into the messaging app. In essence, Telegram gets whizzy new AI features while Grok gets distribution on a platform with roughly 1 billion users, double the number of people on X. But there are a couple of snags. Durov, for a start, appears to believe an oral contract is as good as a written one. Hours after Durov announced the partnership and its financial terms on X, Musk witheringly replied: "No deal has been signed." Musk may not be in the best of moods. With the true impact of his Department of Government Efficiency still unclear, he left his post at the White House this week. Now he's turning back to a business empire in flux, having leaned on AI to balance his books. The generative AI boom has pushed the value of two-year-old xAI to $80 billion, and Musk recently merged that company and X (formerly known as Twitter and worth far less) under a single entity, xAI Holdings. That gives X some much-needed stability, but xAI still needs to make money, and the Durov deal could help. More users of Grok mean more opportunities to sell subscriptions for the AI tool, which cost between $3 and $40 a month. And there's a historical precedent for this kind of distribution partnership to work. Dell Inc. made a killing from pre-installing Microsoft Corp.'s Windows on its PCs, while Apple Inc. has earned $20 billion a year from Alphabet Inc. by making Google the default search tool on iPhones. There's another tantalizing possibility for Musk: scraping messages and content across Telegram and using both to train Grok to be even smarter. A key feature of building today's generative AI systems is that priming them with more data leads to better capabilities, and until now Grok has benefited from training on the mass of text (and bilge) on X. But Durov seems to have nixed that possibility. When a user on X asked Durov if he'd allow such scraping, he replied that user privacy was "paramount" and that Grok would only extract messages people shared with the bot directly. Perhaps this was Durov's way of preempting Musk from seeking access to Telegram data -- hence going public on the partnership so early. And maybe we shouldn't be surprised if the two hash out the issue out publicly. That isn't the only type of drama to expect from this pairing. Should Grok get plugged into Telegram's app this summer, it will be one of the deepest known integrations of an AI tool into a major Western mobile messaging and broadcasting service. You can't use AI to edit tweets on X or messages in WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, even though all those platforms now have an AI assistant of some sort. But on Telegram, you'll be able to do just that. A video demo posted by Durov on Wednesday shows a Telegram user typing the word "great" in a text to their work colleagues. Grok offers options to "improve," "expand" or "change tone." When the user taps "expand," their message turns into: "Excellent, team effort at its best. Keep up the good work!" This at first simply looks like another example of AI bringing blandness and vapidity to human conversation. Apple and Google both offer suggested AI replies in their email software. But using that functionality to edit mobile text messages in real time pushes the technology further into the mechanics behind human voice and intention. It also portends a darker impact on a platform like Telegram, where content rules are scant. The app is well-known for hosting extremist content and conspiracy theories, with neo-Nazi groups in the US using it to organize rallies, while some of last year's anti-immigration riots in the UK were promoted on the platform. Far-right groups, meanwhile, have found ways to "jailbreak" AI bots like Grok, getting them to generate content that breaks the rules of other social media firms; for instance, generating a photorealistic image of mountains that spell out "The Jews did 9/11," according to the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, which singled out Grok as being relatively easy to exploit. Musk has yet to publicly respond to criticisms about jailbreaking Grok. If Grok allows Telegram to create more persuasive memes and other forms of propaganda at scale, that could make it an even more powerful tool for spreading toxicity, from disinformation to hate speech to other odious content. Musk and Durov have kicked off a mini corporate drama of their own, but the real chaos could unfold on the platform itself, and it won't be pretty.

Telegram, Elon Musk's xAI partner to distribute Grok to messaging app's users

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said on Wednesday its messaging app and Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI have agreed to a partnership to distribute Grok to its more than billion users. "This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market. @elonmusk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAI's @grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps," Durov said in a post on X. He further added how this deal will help Telegram's financial position. He said that the app will receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI and 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram.

Elon Musk-owned xAI, Telegram ink new deal, users to get new features. Details here

Telegram has entered into a deal with Elon Musk's company. XAI has signed several tie-ups this year to bolster its position in both AI infrastructure and financial services.Elon Musk's AI start-up xAI will pay Telegram $300 million to deploy its Grok chatbot on the messaging app, aiming to tap the platform's more than one billion users and sharpen its competitive edge in the booming artificial intelligence market. Under the one-year deal, xAI will also give Telegram half of any subscription sales made through the messaging app, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said in a Wednesday post on X, adding that the $300 million will be paid in cash and stock. The deal could provide xAI, which acquired X earlier this year in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion, with valuable data to train and develop its AI models. With many open-source repositories exhausted, AI companies face increasing challenges in sourcing quality data, pushing firms like Meta Platforms to utilize public interactions with AI for model training. According to its privacy policy, X uses public posts from users to train its AI models. It was not immediately clear if xAI would utilize data from Telegram similarly, Reuters reported. XAI has signed several tie-ups this year to bolster its position in both AI infrastructure and financial services. Q1. Who owns AI start-up xAI? A1. Elon Musk owns AI start-up xAI. Q2. Who is founder of Telegram? A2. Telegram founder is Pavel Durov.

Elon Musk Says No Deal 'Signed' After Telegram CEO Announces $300 Million Partnership With xAI - Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov revealed a partnership with Elon Musk's xAI, which will see the integration of the Grok AI chatbot into the messaging platform. What Happened: Durov disclosed on Wednesday that xAI, a startup by Musk, will pay Telegram $300 million for the integration of its Grok AI chatbot, CNBC reported. This partnership, according to Durov, will significantly bolster Telegram's financial standing. As part of the agreement, Telegram will also receive 50% of the revenue generated from xAI subscriptions sold on its platform. The implementation of the Grok AI technology is expected to be available to Telegram users this summer. Despite the announcement, Musk later stated on X that "No deal has been signed," to which Durov responded, "True. Agreed in principle, but formalities are pending." This development follows the March merger of Musk's xAI with X, which valued the AI company at $80 billion and the social media platform at $33 billion. Get StartedEarn 7.2% -- No Matter What the Fed Does Markets expect rate cuts -- but your earnings don't have to suffer. Lock in 7.2% until 2028 from ten individual bonds. Get Started Meanwhile, Telegram, the Dubai-based messaging platform, recently crossed one billion monthly users and plans to raise at least $1.5 billion through a bond issuance. The app enjoys significant popularity in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where it is extensively used by government officials and military personnel. SEE ALSO: Bernie Sanders Says, 'Trump Just Announced He's Reduced Drug Prices By 85%,' Dares You To Go To The Pharmacy And 'Tell Them Trump Sent You' Why It Matters: The integration of the Grok AI chatbot into Telegram is a significant move in the AI industry. This development follows Musk's addition of Grok to Palantir's PLTR AIP platform in February, further solidifying the chatbot's presence in the tech industry. Meanwhile, the use of Musk's AI technology in government agencies, as reported in May, has raised concerns about potential breaches of privacy laws and conflicts of interest. On the other hand, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has criticized Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, alleging that it spreads "fake news and propaganda." READ MORE: JD Vance Said Bitcoin Created Wealth, Peter Schiff Says It Did No Such Thing: 'What Has Happened Is A Massive Transfer Of ...' Image via Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. PLTRPalantir Technologies Inc$126.011.82%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum99.23Growth97.40QualityNot AvailableValue2.69Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Breaking: Telegram Partners with Elon Musks's xAI, TON Price Jumps 23%

The partnership provides $300 million in cash and equity for Telegram In a strategic collaboration, Telegram has inked a lucrative deal with Elon Musk's xAI to distribute its innovative Grok AI platform to the messaging app's vast user base. While this marks a major move in Telegram's vision of AI innovation, the TON price is surging and is up by 23%. Telegram Enters into a One-Year xAI Deal: What It Means? Building on earlier discussions, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has finalized a one-year partnership with tech billionaire Elon Musk's xAI. As announced by Durov, Telegram will get $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of revenue from subscriptions sold through its platform. His X post read, Telegram will receive $300M in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram. Together, we win. Notably, this strategic deal comes on the heels of a $.15 billion funding that Telegram received through a BlackRock, Mubadala-backed bond issue. Amid this development, Durov hinted at upcoming 'good news', which seems likely to be this xAI partnership. Driven by this significant milestone, the TON price surged by nearly 20% to reach a monthly high of $3.67. The 24-hour trading volume surged by 243%, hitting $487 million.

Telegram strikes $300M+ deal with xAI for Grok Integration

Telegram and Elon Musk's xAI have reached a financial agreement to bring xAI's chatbot, Grok, to the instant messaging platform. Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, confirmed the news via posts on X and Telegram. According to Pavel, Telegram has entered into a one-year partnership to bring xAI's chatbot Grok to its billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps. This move not only provides users with cutting-edge AI technology but also strengthens Telegram's financial position. Telegram will receive USD 300 million in cash and equity from xAI, along with 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram. While confirming the news, he also shared a video clip teasing AI-based features coming to Telegram, starting in June 2025. Grok AI will be pinned in chats by default for all Telegram users, allowing instant access. Users will also be able to access it via Telegram search. The new AI features teased in the video include: It's unclear whether these features will be available for free to all users or restricted to Telegram Premium users. We should get more details about them when these features start to roll out next month.

Telegram's $300M xAI Deal in Question After Elon Musk Denies Signed Agreement

A curt response from Elon Musk has cast doubt on Pavel Durov's statement that Telegram will integrate xAI's Grok. | Credit: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images. On Wednesday, May 28, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and Elon Musk engaged in a bizarre back-and-forth on X that suggested some kind of tension or misunderstanding between the tech billionaires. After Durov declared that xAI's Grok would be distributed on Telegram in a deal worth upward of $300 million, Musk rebutted his statement, casting doubt on the agreement. Telegram Grok Deal According to Durov, Musk agreed to a one-year partnership to distribute Grok to Telegram users, "and integrate it across all Telegram apps." He said xAI would pay $300M in cash and equity for the arrangement, as well as 50% of the revenue from Grok subscriptions sold via Telegram. The same day it was reported that Telegram would raise $1.5 billion in a new bond offering, Durov added that the deal would "strengthen Telegram's financial position." However, Musk's reply cast doubt on the agreement. Durov didn't elaborate on why he had publicized details about the deal before anything had been inked. However, he insisted it was "agreed in principle," and that "formalities are pending." Although it isn't uncommon for companies to leak the details of commercial arrangements before they are finalized, Durov's highly public disclosure represents a significant business faux pas. Meanwhile, Musk's chilly response doesn't reflect well on the deal's prospects going forward. Messaging App AI Integrations Any agreement to embed Grok into Telegram would give the platform a boost in the race for users as other messaging apps steam ahead with their own AI integrations. Initially launched in North America in 2023, Meta rolled out its in-app AI assistant for European users in March. Likewise, Apple has launched features like AI summaries and Smart Replies in iMessage. Elsewhere, WeChat, TikTok and X have also integrated a growing range of AI functionalities into their respective messaging services.

Telegram Agrees to $300M Grok Deal With Musk's xAI as Toncoin Soars 10%

Telegram has reached a preliminary agreement for a $300 million partnership with Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI. This partnership will integrate Grok, xAI's conversational AI, into Telegram's platform, offering a variety of features. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced this development on May 28, stating that Grok will be available this summer through Telegram's search bar and other in-app interfaces. Durov stated the agreement includes a combination of cash and equity payments from xAI. Telegram will also receive half of the revenue generated from sold through its app. Musk responded by saying that no contract has been finalized, though Durov clarified that the deal was "agreed in principle" with formalities still pending.

Telegram, Musk-owned xAI partner to distribute Grok to messaging app's users

(Reuters) -Elon Musk's AI start-up xAI will pay Telegram $300 million to deploy its Grok chatbot on the messaging app, aiming to tap the platform's more than one billion users and sharpen its competitive edge in the booming artificial intelligence market. Under the one-year deal, xAI will also give Telegram half of any subscription sales made through the messaging app, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said in a Wednesday post on X, adding that the $300 million will be paid in cash and stock. The deal could provide xAI, which acquired X earlier this year in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion, with valuable data to train and develop its AI models. With many open-source repositories exhausted, AI companies face increasing challenges in sourcing quality data, pushing firms like Meta Platforms to utilize public interactions with AI for model training. According to its privacy policy, X uses public posts from users to train its AI models. It was not immediately clear if xAI would utilize data from Telegram similarly. The companies did not respond to requests for comment. XAI has signed several tie-ups this year to bolster its position in both AI infrastructure and financial services. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)