Elon Musk Is Polling X And Asking If Tesla Should Invest $5B In Grok Parent xAI: 'This Is Just To Test The Waters'
Telsa Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk initiated a poll on X, formerly Twitter, asking if the EV giant should invest $5 billion in his AI company and Grok-parent, xAI.
What Happened: On Tuesday, Musk posted the poll intending to “test the waters” before Tesla ivests into xAI. His question was: “Should Tesla invest $5B into xAI, assuming the valuation is set by several credible outside investors?”
He also said that for this to come to fulfillment approval of the board and a shareholders’ vote is needed.
With 23 hours remaining for the poll to close, nearly 170,000 votes have been cast. At the time of writing, the majority, over 70%, are in favor of the proposed investment, while the remaining voters are against it.
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Why It Matters: This move by Musk is not entirely surprising. Last year in November, Musk expressed his intention to explore a potential partnership between Tesla and xAI, following suggestions from investors on X.
In April this year, Musk highlighted that Tesla should be recognized as an AI or robotics company rather than just an auto company.
Previously, it was reported that xAI has seen an influx of former Tesla employees, sparking controversy and accusations of Musk using Tesla as a talent pool for his other ventures.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Tesla also reported second-quarter revenue of $25.5 billion, marking a 2% increase year-over-year. This figure surpassed the Street consensus estimate of $24.73 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Price Action: Tesla shares experienced a significant decline in after-hours trading on Tuesday, plummeting by 7.8% to $227.23. During the regular trading session, the stock had already fallen 2.04%, closing at $246.38.
Image via Shutterstock
Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Read Next:
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.