Durov announces Telegram's partnership with Musk's xAI, who says no deal signed yet
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Telegram and Elon Musk's xAI will enter a one-year partnership, integrating the Grok chatbot into the messaging app, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced on May 28.
Musk, the world's richest man who also owns Tesla and SpaceX, commented that "no deal has been signed," prompting Durov to clarify that the deal has been agreed in "principle" with "formalities pending."
"This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market," Durov said.
"Elon Musk and I have agreed to a one-year partnership to bring xAI’s chatbot Grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps."
The announcement comes as Musk announces his exit from his role in the Trump administration to focus on his business ventures, many of which saw their profits drop in the past few months.
Musk founded xAI in 2023, and earlier this year, another of his ventures, X Corp., which operates the X social platform, acquired the AI company. Grok is xAI's flagship project and has already been integrated into X.
Musk's takeover of X saw the social platform, formerly known as Twitter, become the leading source of disinformation, EU officials said. The Grok chatbot also faced scrutiny recently after posting unprompted comments on the topic of so-called "white genocide" in South Africa, Musk's home country.
Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram, currently resides in Dubai and holds Russian, Emirati, and French citizenship. He is under investigation in France for criminal activity on his messaging app.
Durov has claimed he is a pariah and has been effectively exiled from Russia, but it was reported last year that he had visited Russia over 60 times since leaving the country, according to Kremlingram, a Ukrainian group that campaigns against the use of Telegram in Ukraine.
Telegram remains one of the most popular social media platforms among Ukrainians. A September 2023 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology indicated that 44% of Ukrainians use Telegram to receive information and news.
Ukrainian officials have warned about security risks associated with using Telegram, leading to restrictions on its use by civil servants and politicians.
