Elon Musk’s xAI acquires X

In a surprising corporate shake-up, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company has officially acquired X (formerly Twitter) in a deal valuing the social media platform at $33bn.

Source: www.unsplash.com

In a post on X, Musk announced, “xAI and X’s futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent.” He emphasised that the merger will unlock immense potential by fusing xAI’s cutting-edge AI capabilities with X’s vast user base.

The $45bn deal, adjusted for $12bn in debt, likely involves a stock swap, with X investors receiving shares in xAI. Key backers of both companies include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, Vy Capital, and Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Co.

The evolving battle over social media moderation: Free speech vs regulation

Grant Lapping 25 Mar 2025

Since acquiring Twitter for $44bn in 2022, Musk has aggressively reshaped the platform, cutting costs and rebranding it as X. Now, with xAI under its umbrella, X is set to deepen its integration with AI, expanding beyond social media into a broader AI-powered ecosystem.

Musk launched xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI, Google, and Meta in the race for AI supremacy. The company’s Grok chatbot is already embedded in X, and this merger signals even closer ties between social media and artificial intelligence.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino responded to the news, saying, “The future could not be brighter.”