On social media platform X, Musk initiated a poll asking fans whether Tesla should invest 5 billion dollars in AI, and emphasized at the end of the poll that approvals from the board of directors and shareholders are necessary and this is just a trial. In May of this year, xAI successfully raised 6 billion dollars, with investors including Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management and Research, and Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Company. The company said the funds will help bring xAI's first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate future technology research and development. At the end of the vote, Musk emphasized that approvals from the board of directors and shareholders are necessary, and this is just a trial. About 0.48 million people participated in the vote after it was released for nearly 7 hours, with over 70% of them supporting this investment.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk launched a poll on social media platform X, asking fans whether Tesla should invest 5 billion dollars in AI. However, the initial poll results showed that most people support this move.
He launched the poll shortly after the Tesla second-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday night. Tesla's latest financial report shows that due to price cuts and increased spending on artificial intelligence (AI) projects, the company's profit margin has fallen to its lowest level in five years.
At the end of the vote, Musk emphasized that approvals from the board of directors and shareholders are necessary, and this is just a trial. About 0.48 million people participated in the vote after it was released for nearly 7 hours, with over 70% of them supporting this investment.
xAI was established in 2023 as Musk's AI company that rivals OpenAI. Musk previously told investors that his xAI plans to build a supercomputer to power its next-generation AI chatbot Grok. He hopes to have this supercomputer up and running by autumn 2025.
In May of this year, xAI successfully raised 6 billion dollars, with investors including Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management and Research, and Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Company. The company said the funds will help bring xAI's first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate future technology research and development.
During the Tuesday earnings call, shareholders asked Musk if Tesla would invest in xAI and integrate the large Grok model built by xAI into its vehicles.
Musk stated that xAI will "help push forward full autonomy and establish new Tesla datacenters," and added that there is an opportunity to integrate xAI's chatbot Grok with Tesla's software. However, he did not elaborate on how Grok will "drive" Tesla's autonomous driving technology.
"Tesla has learned a lot from xAI. It's actually very helpful for pushing forward full autonomy and establishing new Tesla datacenters. Regarding investing in xAI, I think we need approval from shareholders for this type of investment. But if shareholders agree, I will definitely support it," he said.
It is worth noting that the 5 billion-dollar figure did not surface until Musk initiated the aforementioned poll.
However, it is not uncommon for Musk to initiate polls and ask fans on X. In 2021, he initiated a poll asking whether he should sell 10% of Tesla's shares, and started selling shares a few days after the poll ended.
Editor/Lambor