Telegram announces partnership with Musk’s xAI

AI tools developed by Elon Musk’s xAI are to be incorporated into the messaging service, Telegram.

Announcing the deal, Telegram boss Pavel Durov said it would see his firm distribute the AI assistant, Grok, to Telegram’s “billion+ users and integrate it into its apps”.

Mr Durov said the arrangement – which is due to last a year – would see his company receive $300m (£223m) in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram.

“Together, we win!”, he posted on social media.

It follows Meta incorporating an AI service into its messaging service, WhatsApp – a development it was forced to defend after grumbling from users.

Media analyst Hanna Kahlert at Midia Research told BBC News the move followed the pattern of “social and AI trying to absorb each other”.

She said it was not, however, necessarily what customers actually wanted.

“Users primarily still use social platforms to talk to their friends, and see their friends’ updates,” she added.

“Adding AI into direct messaging inherently supplants that – it reduces trust between users and distracts from the current USP.”

This tie-up brings together two of the most colourful and sometimes controversial figures in tech.

Mr Durov was arrested in France in August 2024, after being accused of failing to properly moderate his app to reduce criminality.

Critics had branded the platform the “dark web in your pocket” because of what they said was the amount of criminal activity being discussed on the platform.

However, Mr Durov has denied failing to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content and fraud.

The platform has also rejected accusations that its moderation policies are not sufficiently robust.

Mr Musk has an incredibly broad range of tech interests, ranging from brain implant start-up Neuralink to his rocket manufacturing firm, SpaceX.

He also has a prominent role in the administration of US President Donald Trump, and campaigned heavily to get him elected – something that analysts say is contributing to slumping sales at his best known firm, electric car maker Tesla.

The world’s richest man has also invested heavily in AI.

He was a co-founder of the world’s best known AI firm, OpenAI, the company which makes ChatGPT.

He subsequently left and became involved in a long-running row with OpenAI’s boss, Sam Altman, over its future direction.

Earlier this year, Mr Musk spearheaded a failed attempt to buy it.

He has also been seeking to develop xAI as a rival to OpenAI and other industry leaders.

In March, he announced it had purchased X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in a deal which valued xAI at $80bn (£61.8bn).