‘Tesla Boss’ Returns to Main Job, Says “Shareholder Vote on Investment in xAI”

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

CEO Elon Musk announced that he would put it to a shareholder vote whether Tesla’s funds should be invested in xAI.
xAI, founded by Musk, has reportedly raised $10 billion so far and is in the process of securing an additional $10 billion, targeting a $200 billion valuation.
Musk stated plans to implement xAI’s AI model in Tesla vehicles, indicating ongoing technological integration and cooperation between the two companies.

Musk’s Artificial Intelligence Startup

Will Tesla Become a Major Shareholder?

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (pictured), announced on the 13th (local time) that he would put it to a shareholder vote whether to invest Tesla's funds in xAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup he founded.

On X (formerly Twitter), CEO Musk said, “This is not for me to decide. If it were up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago.” Musk added that, early last year, he told the board he would discuss a plan to invest $5 billion (about ₩6.9 trillion) in xAI.

This suggests that xAI, which competes against major tech firms and AI models like OpenAI, Google, and Meta, is seeking to secure additional capital. After releasing its new AI model, ‘Grok 4,’ on the 9th, xAI has been focused on raising funds. Bloomberg News, citing sources, reported that xAI has raised $10 billion (about ₩13.8 trillion) so far, with plans to secure an additional $10 billion, in pursuit of a $200 billion (about ₩276 trillion) valuation. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 12th that SpaceX has internally agreed to invest $2 billion (about ₩2.7 trillion) in xAI.

xAI, despite its new model launch, is facing difficulties after becoming embroiled in ‘hate speech’ controversy, such as ‘Adolf Hitler advocacy,’ rather than being recognized for its performance. According to xAI, Grok 4 achieved a 25.4% accuracy rate on the renowned AI benchmark ‘Humanity’s Final Exam,’ outperforming Google Gemini 2.5 Pro (21%) and OpenAI o3 (21%). However, Grok drew public attention for ‘hate controversy’ as it defended Hitler and made anti-Semitic remarks on X. On the 12th, xAI apologized for the controversy, explaining, “The result occurred because Grok was instructed to 'ignore political correctness and speak truthfully.'”

Some interpret that CEO Musk is moving toward ‘technology integration’ to overcome challenges at Tesla, which is experiencing sluggish electric vehicle sales, and at xAI. On the 10th, CEO Musk announced plans to implement Grok, xAI’s AI model, into Tesla vehicles next week. xAI has also purchased $191 million (about ₩260 billion) worth of Tesla’s Megapack, an energy storage system (ESS), as the two firms maintain a cooperative relationship.

Silicon Valley = Inyeop Kim, Correspondent inside@hankyung.com