• xAI has acquired X (formerly Twitter) for $33 billion.
  • The acquisition aligns with Musk’s vision of merging AI and social media.
  • Uncertainty remains regarding how AI will reshape the platform’s future.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) firm xAI has acquired his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, for $33 billion.

This acquisition, which came in an all-stock deal, marks the latest development in the billionaire's swift switch of dominance across the social and business world.

“xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction,” Musk posted on X. “The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt).”
“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined...Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent,” he added.

The deal announced on Friday combines Musk's major portfolio companies, which also include automaker Tesla and SpaceX. This also aids his potential ability to train his AI model Grok.

X is one of the highest influential social media platforms that Musk purchased in 2022 for $44 billion; as per Musk, the social media platform has 600 million active users.

His AI startup, xAI, was founded in 2023 in an attempt to compete with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Microsoft by building massive AI data centers. Musk had previously co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside CEO Sam Altman.

With the recent release of Grok 3, the advanced and latest upgrade of his AI model, xAI is successfully leading the band.

One of xAI's biggest advantages over OpenAI and other startups is its direct access to X. With years' worth of accumulated posts, X provides xAI with a vast dataset for AI training, giving it a competitive edge.

Additionally, X serves as a powerful consumer platform, allowing Musk’s AI startup to engage with users on a large scale.

With details such as the deal's specifics, including the compensation of investors or how X's leaders would be integrated into the new form post-acquisition.

By overseeing the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts as head of the 'Department of Government Efficiency', the wealthiest man in the world has been consolidating his power in Washington D.C.

Although Musk has a history of intertwining his various companies, which has not been legally favourable to him in the past, with xAI acquiring X, the two are now essentially unified.

The acquisition also suggests that X’s real value may be in furthering his larger AI ambitions.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah