Musk says he sold social media company X to his AI company

Elon Musk’s xAI acquires X in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with his co-investors in the company formerly known as Twitter.

The deal could also help xAI’s ability to train its chatbot known as Grok.

“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Musk, who also heads automaker Tesla and SpaceX, writes in a post on X: “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”

He says the combination values “xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt).”

Representatives for X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Much of the deal’s specifics remain unclear, such as how X’s leaders would be integrated into the new firm or whether there would be regulatory scrutiny.

Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, is also a close ally of US President Donald Trump and heads the Department of Government Efficiency.

Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns the investment company Kingdom Holding, says he had requested the development.

He noted his companies are the second-largest investors in X and xAI. “After this deal, the value of our investments is expected to reach between $4-$5 billion… and the meter is running,” he says in a post on X.

D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria says the price tag for X of $45 billion when debt was included was not a coincidence. “It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022.”

An investor in xAI who declines to be identified says they are not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies.

Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the deal would drive deeper integration with Grok, the investor says.