Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has sparked a debate among social media users after launching a poll asking if the electric carmaker should invest $5 billion in his artificial intelligence startup, xAI. The poll, posted on X (formerly Twitter), quickly gained traction, with nearly 386,000 votes cast within three hours.
Despite Tesla reporting its lowest profit margin in five years, the poll results show a significant 70% majority in favor of the investment. Musk emphasized that board approval and a shareholder vote are crucial for the investment to proceed.
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Musk believes that xAI, which he launched last year as an alternative to ChatGPT, will be beneficial for advancing Tesla’s full self-driving capabilities and building its new data center. He also plans to integrate xAI’s chatbot, Grok, with Tesla’s software.
xAI has secured $6 billion in funding through a series B round, reaching a valuation of $24 billion. Musk aims for investors in X to own 25% of xAI.
While Musk dismisses concerns about diverting resources from Tesla, this poll demonstrates his willingness to leverage the platform to gauge public opinion on significant business decisions, similar to his 2021 Twitter poll regarding Tesla stock sales.