Elon Musk Acquires xAI, Integrating AI with Social Media
In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion and rebranded it as X. Its valuation has fluctuated significantly in recent years, at one point being valued by Fidelity at under $10 billion. However, since Donald Trump’s inauguration, X’s influence has continued to rise. According to TechCrunch, X currently boasts over 600 million active users, which has contributed to a rebound in its valuation.
xAI was established in 2023 with the aim of challenging giants like OpenAI. Its products, such as the AI chatbot Grok, have been integrated into the X platform, further deepening this integration. The vast amount of tweet data from X provides xAI with a significant advantage for AI training, and the 600 million users serve as a broad platform for the application of its technology. Compared to X, xAI’s development has been more rapid, having raised $6 billion in funding last December, reaching a valuation of $45 billion. Grok 3, released in February this year, has performed comparably to the industry’s leading models in several benchmark tests.
This transaction was executed through the new holding company xAI Holdings Corp. According to The Wall Street Journal, the merged entity will find it easier to secure financing. After the deal, the combined valuation of xAI and X reaches $113 billion, making the combination of AI technology and social media influence very attractive to investors. The integration of X’s data with xAI’s technology could lead to new features, such as intelligent recommendations, but it may also raise antitrust concerns. By 2025, this trend may accelerate, blurring the lines between AI and social media, and further expanding the influence of Musk’s business empire.
