Elon Musk said on Friday that his xAI has acquired X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction for $45 billion.
“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Mr Musk wrote on his social media platform. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”
The billionaire's start-up, which was launched in 2023, recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, Reuters quoted sources as saying. xAI is a so-called public-benefit corporation that Mr Musk has said is focused on understanding “the true nature of the universe”.
Mr Musk, the world's richest person, acquired X – then known as Twitter – in late 2022 after making a $44 billion offer to buy the company, with the stated goal of making the site a place of free speech. But he has been accused of allowing hate speech and misinformation to flourish on the site.
“The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge,” Mr Musk said. “This will allow us to build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress.”