Tesla CEO Elon Musk has launched a ballot asking customers on social media platform X whether or not the electrical automobile maker ought to make investments US$5-billion in his synthetic intelligence start-up xAI — with early votes displaying most in favour of the transfer.
“Board approval & shareholder vote are wanted, so that is simply to check the waters,” Musk stated of the ballot which got here on the heels of Tesla posting its lowest revenue margin in 5 years on value cuts and elevated spending on AI initiatives.
Throughout Tesla’s incomes convention name, Musk stated xAI could be “useful in advancing full self-driving and in increase the brand new Tesla information centre”, including that there are alternatives to combine xAI’s chatbot, Grok, with Tesla’s software program.
Almost eight hours after the ballot was posted, roughly 535 000 individuals had participated with 68.6% voting in favour of the funding.
Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, whereas xAI couldn’t be reached for remark.
Musk, the world’s richest particular person, launched xAI final 12 months, hoping to construct an alternative choice to ChatGPT. The beginning-up raised $6-billion in a series-B funding in Might, attaining a post-money valuation of $24-billion. Backers embrace Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.
Musk has beforehand stated that he plans for 1 / 4 of xAI to be owned by buyers in X, previously often known as Twitter, which he purchased for $44-billion though the social media agency’s worth has plunged since then.
Diverting sources
On the earnings name, Musk additionally dismissed considerations that he could also be diverting sources from Tesla to a few of his different corporations.
In June, CNBC reported that he had ordered Nvidia to ship hundreds of AI chips destined for Tesla to xAI and X. Musk stated Tesla’s information centre was full and there was no place to place the chips.
Musk is a frequent consumer of the polls function on X. In 2021, he requested Twitter customers about whether or not he ought to promote 10% of his Tesla stake and commenced promoting shares simply days after the ballot. — Hyunjoo Jin and Shivani Tanna, with Utkarsh Shetti, (c) 2024 Reuters
