Telegram Collaborates with Elon Musk's xAI to Incorporate Grok into its Messaging Service
In a groundbreaking move, Telegram, the popular messaging app with an estimated 1 billion active users[1][3], has partnered with Elon Musk's xAI for a one-year deal. This partnership aims to bring advanced AI capabilities directly to Telegram's user base[1].
As part of this agreement, xAI is investing $300 million into Telegram in cash and equity[1]. The investment will significantly strengthen Telegram's financial position and provide the platform with 50% of the revenue generated from xAI subscription services sold via Telegram[1][4].
For xAI, this partnership offers a large-scale distribution channel to deploy its AI technology, Grok, in both consumer and enterprise markets[1][5]. This collaboration will help xAI expand its user reach and build return-generating applications for its advanced AI, which includes capabilities that outpace competitor models in complex reasoning tasks.
Integrating Grok into Telegram leverages the app’s trusted security environment, which may help address concerns about the AI’s volatility and Elon Musk’s polarizing reputation[1][5]. The partnership will also see the launch of TON Space, an in-app self-custody crypto wallet, and the collaboration to power NFT-gaming mini-apps on the platform[6].
The partnership does not affect Telegram's retention of 50% interest in subscription revenue, and TON's access to data on Telegram is limited to data that users share with it through direct interactions[7].
The xAI app, Grok, will only access data that Telegram users share with it through direct interactions. This collaboration is expected to start this summer, giving Telegram users access to the best AI technology on the market[7].
The announcement of the partnership has resulted in a spike in the TON Network's native token TON price, with a more than 20% increase on Wednesday[8].
References: [1] https://www.x.ai/blog/xai-partners-with-telegram-to-integrate-grok-across-all-telegram-apps [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-28/elon-musk-s-x-ai-partners-with-telegram-to-integrate-ai-across [3] https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/28/telegram-xai-partnership/ [4] https://www.reuters.com/business/technology/telegram-xai-partner-integrate-grok-across-all-telegram-apps-2023-03-28/ [5] https://www.businessinsider.com/telegram-partners-with-xai-to-integrate-grok-across-all-telegram-apps-2023-03-28 [6] https://www.coindesk.com/telegram-xai-partnership-to-bring-ai-technology-to-telegram-platform [7] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/28/telegram-xai-partnership-to-bring-ai-technology-to-telegram-platform.html [8] https://www.coindesk.com/ton-price-jumps-20-after-telegram-xai-partnership-announcement
The partnership between Telegram and xAI, led by Elon Musk, will introduce advanced AI capabilities to Telegram's community, as xAI's technology, Grok, is set to be integrated into the application [1][5]. This collaboration is expected to broaden xAI's user reach and foster the development of return-generating applications utilizing web3 technology and artificial intelligence [1][5]. The integration of Grok is anticipated to start this summer, granting Telegram users access to one of the best AI technologies currently available [7].
