Photo: Elon Musk (Getty Images) Author: Vladimir Kostyrin
Elon Musk announced the sale of social network X (Twitter) to his startup xAI for $45 billion. The deal includes $12 billion in debt and aims to closely integrate the platform with artificial intelligence technologies.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Musk’s post on X and CNN.
The deal values X at $33 billion , according to the US billionaire, who now heads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The reported $45 billion sale price is slightly more than what Musk paid in 2022.
“The future of xAI and X is intertwined,” the billionaire wrote in a social media post on March 28.
He noted that “we are officially taking a step to bring together data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”
“This combination will unlock enormous potential by combining the advanced AI capabilities and expertise of xAI with the massive reach of X,” Musk wrote.
There are no urgent changes announced on the platform.
The businessman did not announce any immediate changes to X, although the xAI Grok chatbot has already been integrated into the social media platform .
Musk said the combined platform will “deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences.”
He also noted that the value of the combined company is $80 billion .
After acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk made a series of changes to the platform that caused some major advertisers to leave. He also fired 80% of the company's staff, overhauled the platform's review system, and reinstated suspended white supremacist accounts within months of the acquisition.
Rating X
Despite the fact that X's valuation is lower than what Musk paid for the social network, it is still a change of fortune for the company, Western media note.
In October, investment firm Fidelity estimated that X was worth nearly 80% less than when Musk bought it. By December, the platform had recovered somewhat, but was still worth only about 30% of what Musk paid, according to Fidelity, whose Blue Chip fund holds a stake in X.
Musk's Efforts to Become an AI Leader
Musk is, among other things, trying to establish himself as a leader in artificial intelligence, which has been a focus of both the Trump administration and the tech industry.
Earlier this year, he led a group of investors that sought to acquire ChatGPT maker OpenAI for nearly $100 billion, further escalating the long-running rivalry between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
As CNN points out, it's not yet clear how the acquisition will benefit Musk's AI ambitions. But closer integration with X could allow xAI to more quickly push its latest AI models and features to a wider audience.
As Bloomberg reported in February, X is in talks to raise money that would value the company at $44 billion. It’s unclear what came out of those talks or why xAI values X at less than it could get from investors.
Recall that in February, OpenAI's board of directors opposed Musk's offer to buy the company for $97.4 billion. One of its executives, Bret Taylor, said that OpenAI was not for sale.
It was also reported that in winter, Elon Musk introduced the Grok 3 chatbot, which is called the smartest AI in the world.
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