Elon Musk's artificial intelligence firm, xAI, has officially acquired the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) for $33 billion (€30.5 billion). Musk himself announced the transaction via a post on X, stating that the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, accounting for $45 billion in assets less $12 billion in debt. According to Musk, this combination will "unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach." He emphasized that the futures of xAI and X are now intertwined, marking a significant step towards integrating data, models, computing resources, distribution networks, and talent pools.

Details surrounding the acquisition remain somewhat vague. As both xAI and X are privately held companies, they are not obligated to disclose financial specifics to the public. It is also currently unclear how this acquisition will affect the user experience on X. Musk's initial acquisition of Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion was followed by substantial changes, including mass layoffs, revised content moderation policies, and altered user verification processes, ultimately leading to the platform's rebranding as X. The implementation of controversial content policies triggered an exodus of advertisers and a subsequent decline in revenue.

xAI was launched by Musk a year after his acquisition of X. The firm recently unveiled Grok-3, the latest iteration of its AI chatbot, in an effort to compete with industry giants like DeepSeek (a Chinese AI firm) and OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT, backed by Microsoft). Amidst the increasingly competitive AI landscape, xAI has been actively expanding its data center capacity to facilitate the training of more sophisticated AI models. Notably, Musk also spearheaded a $97.4 billion attempt to acquire OpenAI earlier in February, which was ultimately rejected.

Beyond his ventures in the tech industry, Musk, who also serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has become an influential figure in Washington, particularly following Donald Trump's return to the White House. He is currently overseeing cost-cutting initiatives for the administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).