In a move that definitely won’t spark any internal Slack messages laced with thinly veiled panic, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, is preparing to shack up with one of his slightly better-known ventures, Tesla. Specifically, Musk claims that xAI will be “integrating tightly” with Tesla, which in Muskian terms generally means a flurry of tweets, a few grandiose promises, and a lawsuit or two somewhere in the fine print.
Musk made the announcement on his social media platform formerly known as Twitter, now rebranded as X, presumably in keeping with his lifelong goal of naming every company after a variable in a high school algebra problem. He didn’t offer specifics on what this newfound technological harmony between xAI and Tesla would actually look like, but when has a lack of clarity ever stopped the world’s richest futurist from barreling ahead with a plan?
For those unfamiliar, xAI is Musk’s AI company that launched in 2023 with the rather humble mission to understand the true nature of the universe. This, as you may imagine, is a fine complement to Tesla, a company primarily concerned with selling electric vehicles but not averse to the occasional existential sideline, like humanoid robots or flamethrowers for anyone who thought their garage lacked drama.
The integration could, in theory, mean that Tesla’s autonomous driving features might benefit from xAI’s research, or maybe that the Tesla Optimus robot will gain enough sentience to unionize by 2027. Or perhaps Musk just wanted another good reason to tweet in all caps.
It is worth noting that this charming corporate convergence happens shortly after Tesla shareholders raised alarms over Musk’s divided attention. Between SpaceX, X, Neuralink, Boring Company, xAI, and the ongoing management of his meme stash, some critics fear Musk might be spreading himself thinner than a polite pancake.
Still, no official statement yet from Tesla on what this integration means for existing partnerships or how it affects the company’s roadmap, which famously includes plans that have been delayed more times than a budget airline flight to Newark.
As for xAI, it recently launched Grok, its chatbot that is either a serious contender to ChatGPT or a charismatic internet troll with processing power, depending on who you ask. Grok is integrated into X for premium subscribers, because in the Muskiverse, existential insights cost $8 a month.
It’s not yet clear whether xAI’s grand venture into Tesla will revolutionize machine intelligence or simply give Optimus the ability to sass back while vacuuming the rug. But rest assured, Musk is confident that the path to understanding the meaning of life somehow runs through a fully autonomous SUV with falcon wings.
After all, if you’re going to reinvent AI and the auto industry, you might as well do it while simultaneously buying a social network, boring a hole under Los Angeles, launching rockets, and tweeting your way into philosophical oblivion.
Elon Musk is officially in a committed relationship with himself and the honeymoon includes autopilot and algorithms.