Elon Musk's xAI startup buys social media platform X for $33 billion
Elon Musk's xAI acquired X (formerly Twitter) for $33 billion in an all-stock deal, potentially streamlining AI model training. The merger raises questions about regulatory oversight and the integration of X's leadership.
FollowIn the most recent development in the billionaire's swift consolidation of power, Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence company paid $33 billion to acquire Musk's X, the social media company that was once known as Twitter. In addition to combining two of Musk's many portfolio companies—which also include SpaceX and the automaker Tesla—the all-stock purchase announced on Friday may make it easier for Musk to train his Grok AI model.
“The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt),” Musk said in a post on X announcing the deal. "The futures of xAI and X are intertwined," he wrote. "We formally begin the process of integrating the data, models, computation, distribution, and talent today."
Many of the deal's details were still unknown, including the possibility of regulatory scrutiny, how X's leaders would be incorporated into the new company, and how investors may be reimbursed.
By leading the Trump administration's cost-cutting initiatives as chairman of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Musk, the richest man in the world, has further cemented his influence in Washington, D.C. Additionally, it has placed him in a position to possibly influence the organisations that monitor his commercial activities.
When Musk took over Twitter
Musk said that "the bird is freed" when the transaction finalised in 2022 after securing a contract to purchase X, then Twitter, for $44 billion, terminating the company's existence as a public entity since its 2013 IPO. Following the acquisition, he severely reduced the company's personnel, which caused advertisers to abandon the platform and caused revenue to drop down quickly. As Musk's influence inside the Trump administration continues to increase, businesses have recently begun going back to X.
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