Tesla CEO Elon Musk is exploring the possibility of a significant investment in his latest venture, xAI.
In an informal poll posted on social network X, Musk asked whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI, with the condition credible external investors set the valuation.
He clarified the proposal would require approval from Tesla’s board and shareholders, suggesting the poll was merely to gauge public opinion.
Musk, who also leads SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and X Corp., shared this poll shortly after Tesla’s second-quarter earnings report.
The report revealed Tesla’s earnings had missed analysts’ expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter, alongside a decline in revenue from its core automotive segment.
However, the company highlighted significant growth in its energy storage sales and focused on future projects, including robotaxis and humanoid robots.
Musk’s companies often collaborate, though not typically at the scale of a $5 billion investment.
For instance, SpaceX has advertised its Starlink satellite internet on X, and The Boring Company is involved in infrastructure projects at Tesla’s Texas facility.
Musk asked whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI in an X poll
During the earnings call, shareholders inquired about Tesla’s potential to invest in xAI and integrate its AI software, Grok, into Tesla vehicles.
Musk replied: “Tesla is learning quite a bit from xAI. It’s been actually helpful in advancing Full Self-Driving and in building up the new Tesla data center.
“With regards to investing in xAI, I think we’d need to have a shareholder approval of such investment.
“But I’m certainly supportive of that if shareholders are.”
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The poll posted by Musk marked the first mention of the $5 billion figure.
He did not provide further details on how Grok contributes to Tesla’s advancements.
The company was founded in March of the previous year and publicly discussed by Musk in July 2023.
xAI develops large language models and AI software to compete with major players like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Meta.
xAI’s initial product, Grok, is a far cry from established chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Microsoft’s Bing, and Anthropic’s Claude.
Neither Musk nor Tesla responded to requests for further information, including why xAI was not initially incubated within Tesla.
According to a company blog post, xAI raised $6 billion in a Series B funding round, achieving a post-money valuation of $24 billion.
