Elon Musk Ponders $5 Billion Investment in AI Startup xAI with Public Poll

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has initiated a poll on social media platform X to gauge public opinion on whether the electric carmaker should invest $5 billion in his AI startup xAI. The poll follows Tesla's lowest profit margin in five years. Early results show strong support for the investment.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has launched a public poll on social media platform X, inquiring whether the electric carmaker should invest $5 billion in his artificial intelligence startup xAI. Early votes reveal significant support, with 70% of the nearly 386,000 participants favoring the move.

Musk, addressing Tesla’s earning conference call, emphasized xAI's potential to assist in advancing full self-driving technology and establishing a new Tesla data center. He also mentioned the possibility of integrating xAI's chatbot, Grok, with Tesla's software. Despite Musk's frequent use of polls for decision-making, he pointed out that board and shareholder approvals are necessary.

Tesla and xAI have yet to comment on the poll. xAI, founded by Musk last year, aims to rival ChatGPT, having raised $6 billion in May with a valuation of $24 billion. Major backers include Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.