Elon Musk said on Monday that he does not support a merger between Tesla and xAI, his artificial intelligence startup, but suggested that Tesla shareholders may soon vote on whether the automaker should invest in the AI firm.
Responding to a question on X (formerly Twitter) about a potential merger, Musk replied simply, “No.” The comment follows growing speculation about deeper integration between Musk’s various companies, including Tesla, xAI, social media platform X, and SpaceX.
While dismissing a merger, Musk indicated he would support Tesla making an investment in xAI — pending approval from the company’s board and shareholders.
“It’s not up to me,” Musk wrote in a separate post. “If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago.”
xAI, which Musk founded in 2023, recently merged with X in an all-stock deal that valued the AI company at $80 billion and the social media platform at $33 billion. Musk has been gradually linking his ventures under what some observers call the “Muskonomy.” He also confirmed this week that Tesla vehicles will integrate xAI’s Grok chatbot, despite recent controversy surrounding the AI’s output.
Grok, which Musk has described as “the smartest AI in the world,” has drawn criticism after generating antisemitic content. xAI has apologized for the incident, attributing the issue to a flawed software update and stating it was unrelated to the underlying AI model.
Musk’s comments also follow a report from The Wall Street Journal that SpaceX, another company under his leadership, has committed to invest $2 billion in xAI as part of a broader $10 billion fundraising round led by Morgan Stanley. That deal is said to support the company’s rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and development of Grok 4.
Last year, Musk ran a poll on X asking whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI. A majority of users voted in favor, but no formal decision followed. Tesla later disclosed that xAI became a customer in 2024, purchasing $191 million worth of Tesla Megapack energy storage systems.
Although the suggested investment might bring Tesla closer to Musk’s AI goals, the business would require official board and shareholder approval. According to analysts, investors who are worried about corporate governance and possible conflicts of interest between Musk’s overlapping businesses would probably scrutinize any capital allocation.
Tesla’s shareholder vote has not yet been scheduled, and neither Tesla nor xAI has commented further on the timing.
CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, FOX Business, and Business Insider contributed to this report.
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