xAI to Invest $300M in Telegram, Bringing Grok AI Deeper Into the App

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is investing $300 million — in cash and equity — into Telegram, the popular messaging app. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced the partnership on Wednesday, outlining a deal that will significantly deepen the integration of xAI’s chatbot Grok into the Telegram platform.

Grok to Become a Core Feature in Telegram

As part of the agreement, Grok will be distributed and integrated across Telegram for a full year, with Telegram earning 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions purchased via the app. While Grok was previously available only to Telegram Premium users, the new deal hints at wider accessibility, potentially opening the AI assistant to all Telegram users.

According to a demonstration video posted by Durov on X (formerly Twitter), Grok’s integration will go far beyond a basic chatbot experience. Users will be able to:

• Pin Grok to the top of any chat for quick access

• Ask questions directly from the app’s search bar

• Get writing suggestions

• Summarize chats, links, and documents

• Create AI-generated stickers

• Help with customer service and moderation for Telegram businesses

These features reflect a growing trend of AI becoming embedded in messaging platforms. Meta has already added Meta AI to the search bars of WhatsApp and Instagram, showing the race to make AI assistants a central part of everyday communication.

Why It Matters

This partnership is a major step forward for both companies:

• For xAI, it’s a strategic move to expand Grok’s reach to Telegram’s 900+ million global users without building a new distribution channel.

• For Telegram, it offers a revenue stream and keeps the app competitive with other AI-enhanced platforms.

It also signals Elon Musk’s intent to rapidly scale Grok through existing digital ecosystems — leveraging Telegram’s infrastructure and user base to compete with the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Meta AI.

As AI becomes more deeply woven into daily communication, partnerships like this are likely to shape how billions of users experience and interact with artificial intelligence.