Telegram CEO announces $300 million partnership with Elon Musk's xAI and Grok

Elon Musk's startup xAI is paying the Dubai-based messaging platform Telegram $300 million to roll out its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced in a post Wednesday.

Durov said he and Musk struck a yearlong partnership that "strengthens Telegram's financial position."

In addition to the $300 million payment from xAI, Telegram will also earn 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions that are sold on the platform, according to Durov.

Musk later said on X that, "No deal has been signed," but did not provide further information.

"This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market," Durov wrote in his post announcing the partnership.

xAI and Telegram did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Telegram passed one billion monthly users in 2025, and the company is set to raise at least $1.5 billion in a bond issue on Wednesday, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The messaging platform is popular in countries such as Russia and Ukraine, where it is used by government officials and the military.

Durov is facing an investigation in France, where he is a citizen, for allegedly allowing criminal activity including drug trafficking, fraud and child pornography on Telegram. Following his arrest in August, Durov has been barred from leaving France without authorization.

Telegram said in a previous statement posted on Musk's social media platform X that it abides by European Union laws, and that Durov has "nothing to hide."

The Russian-born billionaire left Russia in 2014, according to Telegram's website, and is also a citizen of the United Arab Emirates.

In March, Musk announced xAI merged with X in a deal that values the AI company at $80 billion and the social media company at $33 billion. The company's Grok chatbot was under fire earlier this month after it began responding to user queries with unrelated comments about the controversial topic of "white genocide" in South Africa.

xAI said the responses were triggered by an "unauthorized modification" that "violated xAI's internal policies and core values," according to a post from the company on X.

"We have conducted a thorough investigation and are implementing measures to enhance Grok's transparency and reliability," xAI said in the post.

Experts said the Grok responses, and other AI chatbot errors, show how susceptible the systems are to tampering.

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